Crimson Rain
by xCrimsonLustx
Summary: Crimson was doing just fine on her own, until she has a run in with the Saviors and Negan himself. Now it isn't just walkers she has to worry about, it's politics, manipulation, and all of the games people like to play. How long will she be able to resist Negan's dark charm? What happens when her past walks in the front door? Negan/OC, Daryl/OC Mature, adult only content!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead or any of the characters. I created Crimson and plot involving her, I own nothing else.

It had been a long, uneventful day. She hadn't spotted a single dead head since yesterday. Those were rare days to have now. She continued her trek through the woods she knew so well now, her bow was slung across her back, over her backpack and quiver. The ground was soft from the rain a couple of days ago and left a musty smell in the air. The sun was near setting so it was time to find a place to bed down. There was a small cabin about a mile away, on the other side of the highway. She hated crossing the highway, it was so open, but there was nothing else close enough to get to before dark and she hated sleeping in the trees even more.

It only took a few minutes to reach the highway. She slowed her pace as she approached the break in the trees, and stopped when she heard the rumble of an idling car engine. Several car engines, and they sounded big. She shook her head at herself, big groups were never a good thing. She crouched to the ground, using a tree and its surrounding foliage to conceal herself while she listened. A group of men were talking, but she wasn't close enough to make out what they were saying. She was debating waiting them out, or back tracking to find a nice comfy looking tree to call home for the night when she heard the familiar click of a cocking gun behind her. She froze.

"Well now, what do we have here?" a male voice said. He sounded small. Maybe she could take him out and make a run for it. She slowly reached for the knife in her waistband, trying to conceal her movement.

"Nah uh, put those hands up in the air where I can see 'em or I'll hafta pull this trigger," he said.

Fuck. She slowly raised her hands to either side of her head.

"Good, now get up nice an' slow an' start walking. Don't turn 'round. Got some people who'll love ta meet ya." She steadied her breath and rose to her feet, surprising smoothly with her hands still on top of her head. Panicking would do her no good. "Go on, move it." He took a step closer to her in order to push her forward, but not close enough for her to move on him. He wasn't a complete idiot, unfortunately. Fuck. She moved her feet in the direction of the group.

She saw them all when she broke through the tree line and her feet hit the pavement. Definitely a large group, 12 of them, all men as far as she could tell. They were varied in height, but all of them were in shape, and held their weapons with ease. There was no questioning that they were soldiers. They had 3 large greyish-green military trucks, the kind typically used to move supplies so they were likely on a supply run. She'd heard those same trucks along the same highway a few times before, over the last few months. She knew there were at least a couple communities spread out over the area, this was probably a trade route. Either way, she'd have to move on, far away from here to avoid running into them again.

"Boss, lookie what I found when I was takin' a piss!" the one behind her yelled. Everyone turned to look at her, then one man stepped forward through the now quieted crowd. He was tall, probably a good foot taller than her, and well-muscled under the black leather jacket he wore. His dark hair was slicked back and his salt and pepper beard was short and well groomed. He was handsome, maybe somewhere in his late 40s, but sometimes the handsome ones were the worst. He stilled when he saw her, the baseball bat that was casually swinging in his hands stopped. When his dark brown eyes locked with hers, she felt a flutter in her stomach. He exuded power and finesse. A small, charming smile crossed his lips. And here it starts. She wished so hard that she hadn't just bathed in the creek yesterday.

"You must be the prettiest thing I've ever seen, maybe even before the fucking apocalypse," he said as he stepped towards her, his smile never faltered. Beauty was a curse in a post-apocalyptic, dead men walking world and there wasn't much she could do to hide it. She'd tried everything, covering her dark auburn hair with dirty rags or tucking it under baseball caps. She purposely wore men's clothes, as baggy as she could without them falling off her 5'3 frame, but they couldn't hide all of the outline of the dip in her waist and perfect curve of her hips that could never fit into anything smaller than a size 6, even if she were skin and bones, which she almost was now. Her almond shaped, hazel eyes caught the attention of men everywhere she went. Even in her much too thin state, her breasts barely shrank, her ass still filled the pants out nicely, and her skin held a nice glow. She'd had given anything to get that pale, sallow look to her face and skin, but no such luck.

"Hi, I'm Negan. What's your name gorgeous?" The corner of his mouth pulled his small smile into a smirk as he tilted his head and he pointed the tip of the bat at her. She saw the barbed wire that was wrapped around it. "And don't lie to me. I don't like liars."

"Crimson," she said.

"You even sound like an angel. How fucking amazing is that?" It was obviously a rhetorical question, but a few men murmured their approval until the smile left his face and he turned his head towards them and they were suddenly silent again. The smile returned when he faced her. "But come on now darling, Crimson? What kind of a name is that?"

"It's what they started calling me after it all went down and I was always covered in blood. Or maybe it was my hair." She shrugged. He grinned so wide she could see his pearly white teeth. Who even had teeth like that anymore? He was clean, all of his men were, and their clothes were in great condition. The trucks were clean, well maintained with smooth sounding engines. They definitely had a community somewhere, and with a lot more people.

"Beauty and bravery? How much luckier could I get? It's not every day I stumble on to a lovely lady like yourself." He was laying on the charm like a man used to getting his way. "Now I just need to know where the rest of your people are."

"I don't have any. Not for a while anyways. Just me." His eyes roamed over her, both appreciative and inspecting. She'd just bathed herself, but her clothes were still dirty and heavily worn, her boots almost had holes in them, and she only had enough supplies for one person.

"Really? How the fuck is a little thing like you surviving out here all on her own?"

"I'm resourceful."

"Must be. What'd you do before all hell broke loose and the dead fuckers started walking around?"

"I was a veterinarian." His eyes widened at her statement.

"You're shitting me! You think I'm some kind of idiot? There's no fucking way I believe that sweetheart. 8 fucking years of college to get that damned degree and you can't be much older than 25."

"I am 25. I graduated when I was 20 and was practicing for 2 years before the shit hit the fan."

"Beauty, brawn, brains, and a fucking doctor. I think I just won the jackpot. Why don't you hop up in my truck and I'll take you to your new home. Big, heavy walls, endless supplies, and some really great people to meet."

She'd been casually glancing around, taking in her surroundings. She even caught a glimpse of the man behind her. He was 6 or 7 inches taller than her, extremely thin with shaggy blonde hair. She could take him when the time came.

"No thank you," she answered him. His smile fell and he cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Any why the fuck not? You said you don't have anyone else. No one survives long on their own. And I have a very strict no rape policy if that's what you're worried about. Lots of ladies back home."

"I've been just fine on my own. It's been a pleasure meeting you… gentleman… but if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way." She'd barely taken half a step to leave when the automatic weapons and handguns the others had been holding by their sides raised to point directly at her.

"I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but we have some rules around here. Everyone in my territory, and this is _my_ territory, either comes back with us and joins the rest of my Saviors, or they work for me. And working for me means I take half your shit. Weapons, food, water, clothes, everything." He took a few steps closer to her.

"Fine, take my bag and take half."

"Well doll, I just don't feel right doing that to you. You already got next to nothing, and if I take half then you're as good as dead and that would be a waste. You wouldn't make it more than a day or two without that nice bow of yours. I can't have that. So you're going to come back with us." His smile fell a little, and his voice lost its humorous tone. "Now just get in the truck." He pointed his thumb back at the lead truck.

Crimson didn't move. She waited a moment, hoping the blonde idiot behind her would do what she needed. And he did.

"Get movin'!" he said and stepped closer, putting the barrel of his hand gun against the back of her skull. That's all she needed. He didn't even have time to look surprised as she whipped around, grabbed the barrel of the gun with her right hand and ripped it out of his as she dodged behind him, wrapped her left arm around his throat and pointed the gun directly at Negan's face with her right.

"I was hoping this wouldn't escalate, but I will not be coming with you. Do not follow me, or I'll put a bullet in his gut and leave him for dead, or a snack depending on how close the dead heads are."

"This ain't a good idea doll. I'll find you. My Saviors are everywhere. _I_ am everywhere. There's no place you can hide from me. Put that gun down right now and I'll forget this even happened."

"Sorry, Negan. That's not going to happen." She started to back up, pulling the skinny blonde with her. One man stepped forward to follow and she fired a shot that struck the pavement barely an inch from the tip of his boot. "I meant what I said, don't follow. I have no issues with taking human lives if I must, so don't make me."

Negan's eyes never left hers as she continued to back away, pulling his man with her. She expected him to be furious, but it was curiosity, with a hint of amusement that was swirling in his brown eyes. She stepped about 25 feet into the tree line, well out of sight of Negan and his men when she cracked the blonde over the back of his head and knocked him out cold. Then it was time to run, run hard, run fast, and don't stop.

Negan couldn't believe the balls that chick had. In the years since he'd established the Saviors, he'd never have someone escape from him. His men? Yes. But him? No. And that sweet little thing just managed it in a matter of minutes. He should be pissed, he _wanted_ to be pissed, but all he could do was laugh. She was going to be a hell of a lot of fun once he caught her.

"Find her. Now," he snapped as he turned back to his men, all signs of amusement had left his face. "And if any of you fucks hurt one fucking hair on that head of hers, Lucille is going to have something to say about it. And find Dwight too."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed and followed! I just want to say that I haven't read the comics (I'm a full length novel kind of gal) so my Negan is based off of the show. I'm trying to keep him as in character as possible, I read a lot about what his character is like in the comics, but this story isn't likely to follow the comics or show after the end of season 6, though it may, depending on what happens in season 7. Still need a beta reader if anyone who is great with catching spelling and grammatical errors is available!

Crimson ran for as long as she could. The sun was well below the horizon now and there wasn't much light left. If she kept running now, she was very likely to run straight into a dead head who would take a chunk of her throat faster than she could react. She liked her throat exactly the way it was, thank you very much. She spotted a large oak tree that had strong, thick branches about 20 feet up. She grabbed a hold of the lowest branch and pulled herself up, then crawled up a few other branches before she settled on one that felt high enough to be out of the reach of anything dangerous, and the thick leaves sheltered her from view.

Once she was straddling the branch she called home for the night, she lifted her bow from around her back and hung it from a smaller branch next to her so it was out of her way but could be in hand in a second. She pulled her backpack off and did the same with it. She pulled off the long rope that was looped around the backpack's handle and used it to secure herself to the branch and tied it off with a quick release knot. Sleep came quickly, and though she slept lightly, it was better than no sleep at all.

She woke with the sunrise, the golden light filtered through the trees. She sat quietly for a few minutes until the initial grogginess of waking had passed. She had never been a morning person before the apocalypse, and she still wasn't one now. She could smell the morning dew in the air, and listened carefully for the sounds of dead heads or humans. A bird chirped loudly in the distance, and she could see a squirrel forging around on the ground below her. That was a sure sign that no dead heads were nearby. It wasn't likely that Negan and his men hunted her into the night, but she'd met a few groups crazy enough to do it before. The forest was silent other than the few animals, so she quietly pulled the knot from the rope and tied it back up to her backpack before slipping both arms through the pack's straps. Her bow had just settled on her back when she heard it.

Snap. A twig on the ground, maybe 30 feet away. She pulled her legs, which had been dangling from the branch, up so she wouldn't be easily seen. The sound of rustling leaves grew louder. It wasn't a dead head. Two legs, even pace. It was a human and he was getting closer by the second. She pulled her knife from its sheath in her waistband and waited. She steadied her breathing to calm the pounding heart in her chest. When she saw a mop of long brown hair beneath her, she dropped her bag and bow as she leapt, landing straight on the man's back as she brought her knife across his throat in one smooth swipe. She rolled once and was already on her feet when she saw the barrel of the gun.

"Crimson. I get it now." She looked past the gun's barrel and her eyes met with Negan's, he was grinning from ear to ear. Apparently he and his men spent the night looking for her. She looked down at herself and saw the fresh blood dripping from her right hand that held her knife. There was blood spattered across her shirt, and likely her face and neck too.

"Don't move, or Lucille here is going to come say hi," he said as he lowered the gun with his right hand, but used his left to point the barbwire wrapped baseball bat at her. She dropped her knife and raised her hands chest high. "I don't think I introduced you two before! This is Lucille," he held the bat up so she could see it. "And she is _awesome_. Now tell me, where did a genius doctor learn that shit from?"

"My boyfriend. He was the outdoors, rough and tumble type."

"He the one that taught you how to use that bow too?"

"Yes."

"Seeing how you made me walk around these fucking woods all night, and just killed one of my men, normally Lucille would bash your fucking head in. But since I need a doctor back at Sanctuary, and you're smoking hot, I mean fuck, watching you get all primal and slit Jason's throat like that got me hard as fuck, I'm going to let this slide. It's a one-time thing, so don't even fucking _think_ about pulling some shit like this again." The bat shook at he spoke, emphasizing his point. "I don't want to fuck up that pretty little face of yours." Crimson's face didn't react to his words the way most women would. She didn't react at all. She didn't even blink.

"That was crude. Do you always speak to women that way? I can't imagine it gets you very far." His smile widened.

"Yeah I do doll. And it got me 3 wives back home. You're gonna meet them when we get there. They'll help you get cleaned up. As sexy as you look right now, that blood is going to start to stink soon. After you're cleaned up, you and I are going to have a chat. You have no idea how well I want to get to know you."

"I know exactly how well you want to get to know me. But don't get your hopes up. I…," she was cut off when a hand grabbed her ankle. When she looked down, Jason had already reanimated, his white eyes were sighted on her juicy leg. He was a second away from taking a chuck out of her calf when the bullet tore through his skull.

"Now you really owe me. And I'll grow on you, I abso-fucking-lutely promise you that sweetcheeks. Now I've got to pat you down before we go. Can't have you trying to put a knife in me." She narrowed her eyes at him and he saw her clenched jaw twitch. "I'll be a gentleman. Now turn around."

She turned away from him, keeping her hands in the air so he could approach. He started at her neck, checking her hair for something hidden. She shuttered as his hands grazed softly down her neck and to her shoulders. It was involuntary, she couldn't help it. The first year after the turn, she'd spent looking for her boyfriend, if that was even the right term for him. What did you call the person that taught you about yourself, who made you a better person, who taught you to survive? There wasn't a label for that. After that year, she had no interest in being with any other man. She'd killed quite a few who didn't understand the word no.

Negan's hand were large, calloused, but surprising gentle for a man of his size and character. They ran down her arms from the front, then back up from the back, checking for knives hidden under her sleeves. She had none. He brushed down her back and she shivered again as his hands slide around her waist to her stomach, checking her waistband. He found her empty knife holster and pulled the clip from her waistband.

"I think I'm already growing on you, unless those shivers are just because you're cold."

"They're because I'm repulsed. Now get on with it, I'd rather not stand out in the open woods all day, especially since I'm disarmed."

"Whatever you say doll. But you are one fine piece of ass, and so am I, so this attraction is natural. No fucking shame necessary." She could practically feel him grinning behind her. His fingertips brushed over her hips, then one hand ran down each leg. He stopped when he felt another holster from the outside of her boots. She was hoping he'd miss that one. He pulled her pant leg up over her boot and grabbed her pink Ruger subcompact .380 that was tucked inside. "Pink? Really?" Negan laughed. "Where the fuck did you find this at? I can't even tuck this in my waistband and still be dignified. If I wasn't a little worried that you'll put a bullet in my brain the first chance you get, I'd let you hang on it, just so I don't have to." He shoved it in the front right pocket of his jeans so it was hidden.

"It was my first gun, had it long before the apocalypse, so be careful with that. I want it back."

"I'll take good care of it," he replied. He kept her in his peripheral vision as he searched the now very dead body. Jason had a radio, 9mm, rifle, and a couple knives that Negan took. He put the smaller items in her bag, and slung the rifle over his back. "Turn around, you'll be walking in front of me darling, so I can keep an eye on you." He picked up her backpack and bow, slipping both of them over his shoulder. "If you promise not to run, I'll put my gun away. I'm a friendly guy, and it doesn't feel so friendly to be aimed at your head all the time."

"You have everything I own. My food, water, and weapons. I'm not an idiot. I wouldn't make it more than a day or two on my own now." Negan tucked his gun into the back of his pants, then put a hand on her lower back to urge her forward. He moved through the woods almost silently. Barely a rustling of leaves as he stepped. It was no wonder she hadn't heard his approach.

"Now that's the spirit! Cooperating already. You're one smart lady. You and I are going to get along great." He grabbed the radio that was hanging from his waist. "I've got her. Everyone get their asses back to the vans, we're leaving ASAP." There were several acknowledgements before the radio when silent as they continued to walk.

Then someone asked "Jason, you copy?"

"Jason's dead," Negan answered. "He's been taken care of." The radio went silent again. "We've got a bit of a walk to get back to the road. Why don't you tell me all about your sexy little self?"

"What would you like to know?"

"Well, I know you're a 25 year old veterinarian who knows how to hunt and fight and you're some kind of fucking genius or shit like that. Where were you from, before all this?"

"Georgia."

"Lemme guess, you grew up in one of those fancy plantation houses in those nice neighborhoods, your daddy was a doctor and you wanted to be just like him."

"I lived in a trailer out in the woods. My mother and father were too busy smoking, drinking, and shooting up to pay much attention to me."

"You're just full of fucking surprises! I don't know if I'm actually going to believe you till I see you patching up one of my men. I think you might be full of shit. How'd you manage to end up a doctor instead of a crack whore?"

"As I said before, I'm resourceful. Are you done with all of the questions now? You talk. A lot."

"Nah, I'm a really fucking friendly guy doll. I told you I want to get to know you better. How long have you been alone out here?"

"About 10 months."

"You with any groups before then?"

"Yes, a few."

"What happened to them?"

"The first group I was separated from when a hoard came at us. The second was picked off slowly. The third… it was a group of men who thought I owed them something for a couple weeks of _protection_ and didn't understand the word 'no'. They're all dead now."

"You can be one mean little bitch, can't ya?"

"I'm a survivor. I do what I have to, no more, no less."

"You won't have to do that shit anymore at Sanctuary. It's a fucking fortress. All you gotta do patch up my men when they need it, and keep the workers healthy."

"Fortresses fall."

"That they do. But not mine, not for a long fucking while at least. I run a tight ship. Daily maintenance, 24/7 perimeter patrols, all that good shit. Everyone has a job, and there are rules that everybody fucking follows or they pay for it."

They finally hit the break in the tree. Negan's men were already waiting for them. Most of them were in the trucks, ready to go. A few were keeping watch from the ground.

The idiot blonde approached them when they reached the first truck.

"Dwight, good to see you fucking survived your encounter with the maybe 110 pound girl," Negan mocked him. "Try not to get kidnapped again next time you stupid shit."

"Ready to go when you are boss," Dwight said, his pale cheeks went red with embarrassment.

Negan lead her to the first truck, opened the door, and jumped up before holding his hand out to pull her up. He took his seat in the front passenger side. She looked around the truck, but all of the seats were taken. Negan grinned at her again, and patted his lap.

"I'll be a perfect gentleman, just like earlier," he said. When she didn't move, he looped his arm around her waist and pulled her down on his lap, then slid his hand to rest on her hip. His left hand was playing with the ends of her long hair. "I think they called you Crimson because of this gorgeous fucking hair. None of my wives are red-heads, not normally my thing, but you are so fucking exceptional." The trucks all started up smoothly, and rumbled down the road towards Sanctuary.

"How long until we get there?" Crimson asked.

"Not long doll, not long at all."

A/N: Please review and follow if you love it! Thank you Karen Wood, Jackie, atiketook, snowangel, Jofrench22, and Guest for your reviews! I'm so much more inspired and driven to write when I know people are reading and loving it.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N Thank you everyone for your patience! I'm almost done with wedding season and will be able to update on a more regular basis in about a month. I hope you are all enjoying it, if you are, please review! I also wanted to let everyone know that this story is starting around the start of season 6 which to me should be around 3 years from the start of the outbreak. I know the thought is that it's only around 2 years, but I already said it was about 3 earlier, so I'm going to stick with that. Plus I think Judith is around 2 years old in season 6, so if Lori got pregnant after the outbreak, it would make it around 3 years. When we catch up to season 7, I will be trying to keep the story as in line with the actual plot as possible, but since I already have major plot points and the end in mind, it end up being at least a little AU. Enjoy the chapter!

Minutes felt like hours as the trucks rumbled down the highway. It was bumpy, and her feet couldn't reach the ground from Negan's lap so the only thing that kept her from bouncing off of his lap was the arm he had around her waist. He held her tight against him, her back was flush with his chest. His wide, muscular and extremely masculine chest. His hand hadn't stopped playing with her hair. He was casually twirling it around his fingers, like it was an afterthought he didn't realize he was doing. But Crimson knew that he knew exactly what he was doing. He kept brushing his fingertips down her spine, or softly down the back of her bare arm. And she could smell him, Negan smelled like the woods, pine, dirt, a hint of pheromone filled sweat and it reminded her so much of… him…

After a year of searching for him, she couldn't even think his name anymore. She had to move on, had to survive and to do that she had to put herself first. No one else mattered, not unless there was something they could give her, something like food, water, temporary safety. Though she rarely relied on anyone else for safety anymore, that's how you got yourself killed.

Thankfully the ride had been silent since the trucks started moving. They were heading northeast on highway, further than she had ever travelled since the outbreak.

"Boss, what happened to Jason?" the man driving the truck was the first to speak.

"Fucking idiot didn't pay any fucking attention to where he was going and got himself killed," Negan answered. "He was a worthless sack of shit anyways. I don't know why you always insisted he come along."

"He was a decent tracker."

"Couldn't tell his foot from his asshole. Bring Sammy next time you want a tracker."

"Ok Boss."

"Well now Sweetcheeks, I didn't introduce everyone, did I? How fucking rude of me."

"More or less rude than your forcing me to sit on your lap and pawing at me like a dog in heat?" Crimson replied. Negan laughed.

"That little mouth of yours, I love it now, but I'm going to love it even more when it's wrapped around my cock."

"Unless you were lying about your 'very strict no rape policy,' that's never going to happen."

"We'll see about that." His left hand finally stopped playing with her hair and pointed to the driver. "That's Simon, my right hand man."

She turned her head to look at him. His hair was like a wild brown and gray wiry mop on his head, and matched his 80s porn star mustache. He was thin, like everyone was these days, and he leered at her.

"If Simon doesn't keep his eyes to himself I'll dig them out of his skull with the first thing I find." Negan laughed again. The men in the back gave a nervous chuckle.

"You might be acting like a damn prude right now, but I'd bet all 3 of my wives that you are a fucking firecracker in bed."

"Only for a real man, the kind that doesn't have to kidnap his women."

"I'm saving your life doll, big fucking difference. You'll figure shit out eventually and then you'll be thanking me. But, where was I? Oh yeah, back there we have Mike, Dan, and Randy." She glanced at them, to register faces to each name, then turned back to staring out of the windshield. They were the lead truck, so there was nothing but empty road in front of them. They must have cleared any disabled cars and roadblocks on the way out.

"I wasn't a damsel in distress and I have no desire to be here so I'd call that…" She stopped midsentence when the stench hit her nostrils. The air conditioning was running, which felt amazing compared to the heat outside and it blew in the all too familiar putrid, sharp stench of rotting flesh. The kind of smell that only came from the dead that were still walking around. "Stop!" Her voice was calm, but firm. Simon hit the brakes at the same time she commanded.

"Yeah, I smell it too," Negan said as he picked up a pair of binoculars from the open console between the seats. "Fuck. Big group of them up ahead, walking straight for us. Must have heard the trucks when they were crossing the road. Bad fucking timing on our part." He picked up the radio and she heard the click of the button. His chin was hovering just over her shoulder so he could speak into it. "We got about 30 or 40 dead fuckers up ahead. Pull the trucks up next to us. I want a man with a scoped rifle on top of each truck to get rid of most of them before they reach us, and keep them off our backs. Everyone else gear up from some real fucking fun."

He opened the door and slid out from underneath her, easily lifting her up and setting her back down on the seat. The other men climbed out of the truck as the other two trucks pulled up on each side of them.

"Can I have my knife back?" Crimson asked.

"Nah, you're gonna stay right here doll. I'll take care of these guys and we'll be back on our way home before you know it." He left before she could respond. She watched him walk around to the front of the truck and lean back against it like there wasn't a herd of flesh eating dead guys walking straight towards him. She could see the tip of his barbed-wire bat as he swung it around, waiting. The stench was getting stronger and she could see them in the distance now, slowly stumbling towards the living. "Don't let them make to the trucks. If I have to smell this shit all the way home because there's blood and guts stuck all over them, I'll bash one of your fucking heads in."

She heard a chorus of "Yeah Boss!" from the men. The popping of the rifles started and she could see the bodies dropping in the road. They were starting with the ones in the front, which slowed the herd down when they started tripping over the truly dead ones. It was a great strategy. They had the herd down the maybe 15 when they were only a hundred feet out and Negan and his men started towards them, knives (or bat) in hand. It would have gone down perfectly if another 30 or so didn't start pouring out from either side of the road, right next to the trucks. Negan was on the ground with 8 other men, no match for close combat. The gunfire went crazy. They were panicking, the rifles on the roof were firing faster than they should for accurate shots.

Lucky for her, the other guys had shut the truck doors when they climbed out. Negan was the only one that left a door open, so Crimson shut it as quietly as possible. All she had to do now was wait for the dead heads to finish them all off, lay low in the truck for a few hours until the dead finished their snacks and moved on, then she would be free to grab her things and continue on her way. She ducked down in her seat enough that she could watch the action, but the dead wouldn't notice her.

The men were yelling now. The guys topside were doing a decent enough job of keeping the dead heads from fulling enclosing the group, their backside closest to the trucks was still clear, and they were slowly being pushed back towards her from all other sides. The rifle fire was slowing down. "I'm out!" She heard someone yell from on top of her truck. "Me too!" Another one echoed.

So far only 2 men had disappeared into the crowd of dead heads. They were organized, she'd give them that much, but they were panicking and it showed. Some knives were landing in jaws or necks, not skulls. Guns were firing rapidly, emptying clips too fast and not taking enough dead heads down with them. Just a few more minutes and she'd be a free woman again. She smirked to herself.

All rifle fire had ceased, but she didn't see those men getting down and joining the fight on the ground. She scoffed at them, cowards. If you joined a group, you protected that group. If you only wanted to look out for yourself, then keep to yourself.

Negan was the only one still fighting with any reason. He still had his head on straight. He swung his bat so gracefully, each movement fluidly following the last. One or two dropped with each swing. She was fascinated watching him. The way he turned, so light on his feet, bring the bat straight down hard on one and bringing it right up through the next head. He planned, he knew exactly what he was going to do before he moved. She was so enthralled with him, she almost didn't notice the three dead heads coming up from behind him.

She didn't think, she acted. The truck door hadn't even finished swinging open before she jumped out. Her left hand held on to the door frame to steady her landing while her right hand reached under her shirt to grab the small gun Negan had missed on his search. She loved her bra holster for that very reason. The only way anyone found it was if they were feeling her up, and while his words and looks may have been rude, his hands had stayed in appropriate areas.

One foot hit the ground and she was already running. One was just grabbing the back of Negan's jacket, rotten teeth wildly snapped for his neck when she took aim and fired. Negan was already spinning around towards her when it dropped and she quickly fired twice more, bullets finding their mark in the backs of the dead head's skulls. There were 7 dead left, and 5 living on the ground, Negan included.

Negan's eye grew wide with surprise when she aimed straight for his head, and almost didn't move when she said, "Duck." But he did, and she fired 4 more times, dropping a dead head with each shot. 3 left. Simon's knife sunk into the temple of one while Negan swung around and took out the last 2 with one move. The men were panting with exhaustion, and they were all covered in dark, coagulated, sticky blood with bits of rancid flesh mixed in. The 3 men on top of the trucks were climbing back to the ground when Negan turned back to her and snatched the gun from the palm of her waiting hand. He turned the S&W .380 Bodyguard over before he spoke.

"This ain't one of my guns sweetheart, so where the fuck did it come from?" There was a moan from the ground, one of Negan's fallen men was waking up, hungry white eyes staring up at them. "Simon, take care of them. Should be 4 from my count." Then he turned back to her, waiting for her answer. Crimson saw Simon slide his knife into the base of the skull, then search through the seas of bodies to find the other 3.

"Not even a thank you for saving your ass? You really are very rude."

"You get the biggest fucking thank you I can offer, letting you live after you managed to hide a gun from me. Now where was it?" He was angry, there wasn't a trace of the playful tone she'd been hearing in his voice.

He raised an eyebrow when she reached up under her shirt, and he could see her fingers moving between her breasts.

"If you needed someone to play with your tits, all you gotta do is ask. Watching you work was hottest thing I've seen in a while and I'm fucking pissed so we can have a nice hot, angry fuck in the back of the truck. These shit heads can wait a while."

"Fuck off," she answered as she pulled the bra holster from under her shirt and handed it to him. "I want that back too. It was custom made."

Negan looked at it with surprise. "What in the fuck? A god damned bra holster? I've never seen that shit before! Couldn't even feel it when I patted you down. No fucking wonder you wanted me to be a gentleman!" He laughed. "That's fucking funny." He slipped the holster in his pocket when he turned towards his men. She saw the smile slip from his face and quickly as it appeared. "You know what isn't fucking funny? You three spineless pieces of shit." He pointed Lucille at the three men who had been on top of the trucks. One of them was Mike, who'd been riding in the truck with them. "We were out of ammo, and you were just going to let them have at us. Not fucking cool. I'll show you how not fucking cool when we get home." He looked over at Simon and the remaining men who had fought on the ground with him. "Tie them up, we'll hand out punishments when we get back."

He walked over to the truck and pulled a rag out from the door along with a bottle of water. He unzipped his blood covered jacket and tossed it on the floor. He had a plain black t-shirt on underneath that was somehow clean. He tilted his head back and poured the water over his head, rinsing some of the blood from his face and hair. Crimson had to stop herself from nibbling at her bottom lip as she watched beads of water dripping down neck. He caught her staring as he threw the empty bottled into the truck.

"You keep telling me to keep my hands to myself, but your eyes sure do say you want to fuck me right now." She scoffed at him and rolled her eyes. He was wiping his hands and face clean with the rag. She looked around, everyone else was out of sight around the front of the trucks. She could hear the cowards protesting restraints. When she looked back up, Negan was right in front of her. How could a man so large move so quietly? He reached up and brushed a stray lock of hair from her face and leaned in. She could feel the stubble of his beard against her cheek as his lips almost brushed her ear. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she struggled to keep her breath even and calm.

"You know," he whispered, "if you still want that thank you for saving my ass, I'll show you exactly how fucking thankful I am in my bed tonight."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N Sunday's season premiere gave me a racing heart, a lot of tears, and a ton of inspiration, so here's the next chapter! The season premiere actually played right into my plans and vision for my story, so it will end up slightly AU like all stories with an OC, but not too far off track. If you're enjoying my story, please, please leave a review. I like to interact with my readers. I gained a ton of follows and favorites after Chapter 3 (thank you all for that too!) but only 2 reviews.

aishiteru naru: Thank you for your review, I hope you like this next chapter!

Kiwi Mania: I'm glad you like my Negan! I love him, and hate him at the same time, especially after the season premiere, so I'm trying to keep my Negan as true to his character as I can. Enjoy this chapter!

Crimson couldn't stop herself from shivering as Negan's breath caressed her ear. She wanted to snap back at him immediately, but didn't trust her voice to stay strong. She wasn't some man crazy, weak willed woman who fell for seduction techniques, even from handsome men. So what was Negan doing to her? She took a deep breath, and then another, before she placed her hand on Negan's chest and pushed him back.

"No," she said, her voice far more confident than she felt. "You can put a paper bag over one of your 'wives' heads and pretend it's me, but that's the closest you're ever going to get."

Negan grinned at her, that charming grin that left a sadistic twinkle in his eye. "I _really_ like you."

She jumped up in the truck to wait before she said, "Of course you do, men always want what they can never have." Then she pulled the truck door shut on his smiling face. She could see his head as he walked around to the front of the truck to give orders. The voices were muffled through the thick glass and heavy metal of the military vehicle, but she watched as Mike and the other two that had been restrained were hauled up into the truck to her right. The rest of the men climbed into the vehicles on either side. When the driver's side door opened, Negan pulled himself up in one, quick, graceful movement and started the truck up.

"Where's everyone else?" Crimson asked.

"Well Doll, just me and you for the rest of the drive. Gives us a chance to get to know each other a little better," he winked at her before he turned back to the road. Their truck took the lead, and she heard the other two fall in line behind them. "So, what were you planning to do with that little Smith & Wesson stored between those gorgeous tits?"

She let out a frustrated sigh at his continued crudeness before she answered, "It's a lot easier to disappear into the night with a weapon in hand than it is to find one and then get out."

"So you weren't planning to use it on me?"

"Not unless you gave me a reason to."

"I gotta admit, I was a little worried when you pointed that right at me. No one's pointed a gun at me and lived."

"I wasn't pointing it at you, I was pointing it behind you. But if saving your ass comes along with threats, next time I'll just let them take a nice, meaty chunk out of your neck."

"Now, now, no need to be like that. Just watch where you point your weapons, if I let you have them back."

" _If_ you let me?" she raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

"You gotta earn my trust to get them back sweetheart, prove you deserve them more than someone else. I always have room on my team for a good fighter, but you're also gonna be our only Doc, so I gotta take good care of you."

"Give me back my guns and my bow and I'll take care of myself."

"I'm sure you can, but that's not happening yet. So you keep yourself behind our walls at Sanctuary and you'll be just fine. Between my handsome self, Simon, and my other lieutenants we run a tight ship. No one, dead or alive, gets in or out without me knowing about it."

"That's what they all say, until a gate fails or a wall falls and a herd comes walking in."

"Not gonna happen at Sanctuary. You'll see when we get there."

Crimson turned her head to stare out of the passenger window. She watched his speed, and calculated the distance they were driving. It was important to know exactly where you were at all times. Getting lost is how you ran into a group or town you shouldn't and got yourself into trouble. So far they'd traveled about 40 miles from where they'd picked her up.

"Where were you headed when Dwight found you?" Negan asked.

"I was looking for shelter for the night," she answered. "I found it's dangerous to stay in one place for too long when you're on your own, so I just wandered looking for supplies and shelter."

"I can't see you just walking around hoping for the best. That's a shit plan, and you seem like a planner. Planners always have a plan B."

"My plan B is sleeping in the trees. Not comfortable, but it's safe."

"Fair enough. Don't want to give out all your survival secrets, don't trust me yet, I get it. But give it some time, you'll see I'm not the fucking bad guy you think I am right now. My people love me, you will too." She glanced over in time to see him winking at her, again.

"What's your story?" Crimson asked. "You're asking me all these questions, but I don't know much about you. You found a baseball bat with some barbed-wire and some guys willing to follow your lead after the end of the world?"

"There's not much to tell. I picked up a few people on my way out of town, found Sanctuary, and it's just been growing since," he replied. "In this world, people want safety, security, and they want a leader. I'm smart, quick to act, honest as fuck, and just look at this smile," he flashed his teeth in a big grin, "who wouldn't want to follow this?" She turned back to the window, signaling the end of the conversation.

Negan was silent for a few minutes, glancing over to observe her in the silence.

"What's your real name Doc?" he finally asked.

She turned to face him before she answered, "Crimson. Everyone I knew before this is dead. Just like you, I'm not the same person, so no other name matters anymore."

"It's that fucking bad?" Negan laughed at her. Crimson couldn't help but to crack a smile before she shook her head and resumed her mileage count, using unique trees, rocks, and cars pushed off to the side of the road as markers. "Ah ha, I knew I could get a damned smile on that pretty face before the end of the trip!"

Crimson made a mental note when he turned down a well-worn road. The white and yellow paint was long gone, and the road was wide enough that the large, military vehicles had plenty of clearance. They travelled for a few minutes before Negan spoke.

"We're home."

Crimson looked up to the windshield to see a large industrial building. It appeared to have been some sort of factory before the apocalypse, a tall building, maybe 10 stories in the center with some shorter buildings attached around the sides. It was made of concrete, steel, and a lot of glass with a few large smoke stacks. It was surrounded by tall and heavy chain link fencing with a row of razor wire across the top. The trees had opened up to a large parking lot. When she looked closer, she could see a row of dead heads along the fence line.

She was about to make a smart remark about his men failing miserably at their jobs when she realized the dead heads were either chained to the fence, or impaled on some sort of spear, and all were unable to move other than stretching their arms out, hoping to reach a human. There were even heads set on pikes.

"What the…" she couldn't help but speak out loud.

"Fucking amazing, isn't it?" Negan said.

"That… was not the word I was going to use."

"I started putting them out there when we had some fucking defectors and thieves run out, fuckers thought they could get away with it. I thought they'd make a nice example for everyone, remind them what happens when your dumb-as-shit ass steal from me and my Saviors. Then we realized they actually cut down how many biters wander over this way. These ones cover up our smell or some shit like that."

"Well, it definitely makes the place seem so… welcoming."

Negan grinned, "You're gonna love it, I promise." Two large gates swung open as the trucks approached, and shut just as quickly after they rolled through. She could see a couple of women hanging laundry on a line to dry. There were a few kids playing kickball. Men patrolled the fence line with rifles. Everyone was clean, clothes in perfect condition.

Negan pulled the truck up in line with several other military vehicles and shut it off.

"Stick by my side Doll, I'll take you to get cleaned up," he said. "But I'll give you my own personal fucking tour on the way there."

Crimson nodded, and then opened the door to hop down to the ground. The concrete was clean, well maintained but had a few cracks with some blades grass peeking through. Negan walked around the back of the truck and offered her his right arm as she approached. She looked at it, but made no move to take it.

"Sweetheart, when I offer you my arm, the polite thing to do is take it," he said. "I fucking hate being disrespected."

Crimson clenched her jaw but slid her arm through his. He smiled again.

"That's not so bad, now is it?"

"Can we just get this over with, please?" she questioned. He answered by stepping forward. He was significantly taller than her, with much longer legs, and had to take 2 steps for every 1 of his. The other men were following behind.

"Simon, take a couple men to bring those three to holding, we'll deal with them later. I'll escort Crimson to her new quarters. Everyone else is dismissed. Go eat, get some pussy, whatever, you all earned it today."

A chorus of "Yeah Boss" answered him.

He was silent as they approached the front doors of the building, but she could see him smiling, the smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. The kids playing kickball stopped as soon as they saw him, and looked down at the ground. She didn't realize they were bowing their heads until they reached the women hanging laundry and they actually dropped to their knees, bowing their heads to the ground.

"This is the main entrance," he said as a man pulled open the door for them, his head also bowing. "There are a few other entrances around the sides and back, but those are always kept locked 24/7 so if there isn't anyone with a key around, you're shit out of luck." The floor was the typical off-white industrial tile you'd expect to find in a factory. It smelled faintly of bleach, and was incredibly clean for the amount of people walking around. The hallways were spacious enough for a few people to walk side by side. Doors lined the hallways. Long florescent bulbs lit up the 1st floor. She would have been in awe of the electricity she hadn't seen in years if she weren't so taken by every single person kneeling to Negan as they walked by.

When they reached the end of the hall, an elevator opened and he gently guided her inside, then hit the 10th floor button, the top floor.

"The first floor is all storage. The kitchen is down there, so is the clinic you'll see tomorrow and a few recovery rooms for when someone is too fucked up to be walking up and down the stairs to their assigned room." The door slid shut and she felt the old, familiar tug as it started to ascend.

"They can't use the elevator?"

"No, the elevator is for me, my wives, and my lieutenants. Anyone else caught using it loses a finger," he said like it was common sense. "The second floor is additional storage, 3rd through 5th floors are general housing, 6th and 7th are for soldier's with familes, 8th is for single soldiers, 9th is for my lieutenants, and then 10th is my office, bedroom, and wives' housing. What do you think? Fucking amazing, right?"

"You like honesty, right?" she asked.

"Abso-fucking-lutely," he replied.

"Then I think this place is like a creepy fucking cult that's one imaginary astrological sign away from drinking the kool-aid."

Negan laughed so loud she could feel his arm shaking. "That's some damned honesty!" The elevator dinging, signaling their arrival to the 10th floor, and he pulled her through the doors as the opened. The hallway was straight ahead with a few doors to the right and left. This floor had carpeting, and smelled sweet, like women's perfume. A decent looking, long haired blonde in a skimpy, bright pink, silk negligee came out of the first door to the right to greet them.

"Negan, baby, so glad you're home safe!" She greeted him with the biggest smile she could fit on her face before she turned to Crimson. "Who's this?"

"Sherry, sweetcheeks, this is Crimson. She needs to get cleaned up, and needs a fresh set of clothes. I know you're the girl to help out."

"Or course, I'll take good care of her!" Sherry said.

"Sherry will bring you to my office when you're ready," Negan told her as he slipped her arm out of his, and disappeared behind a door to the left.

"Come on," Sherry headed towards the end of the hall. "I'll show you to the wives' bathroom." Crimson didn't follow, so Sherry stopped and asked, "Are you coming? Negan doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"Why am I using the wives' bathroom, and not one for the general public?"

"You know, I didn't think he liked redheads, but you're so gorgeous it give you that kinda exotic feel. You're getting ready to have dinner with him, get the run down on his rules, and then he's going to give you the offer of a lifetime and ask you to be his newest wife."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: According to yesterday's episode, Sherry wouldn't be Negan's wife yet, but it's too late to change that now, so I'll have to modify Dwight and Sherry's story a little bit to match my own, but not too much. Everything else is falling in line with my vision so far, so I'm extremely happy with that! If you're reading, please review! Let me know what you think of Crimson, of my Negan, how I'm writing the rest of the characters, anything, just share your thoughts!

BaMby666: I'm so glad you love Crimson! I love OC fics for Negan and Daryl, but I also have a hard time with how most OCs are written so I'm happy to hear she's well written so far. I'll have to check out your fic soon when I have time.

msgemgem: I don't mind long reviews, I actually prefer them, so thank you! I think you share my vision of Crimson, she will definitely not be falling into Negan's bed at his first offer of being a wife. I don't enjoy fics where OCs just hop right into bed as his newest wife. Crimson's not easy, and she's not a push over, so don't worry about that! I already have a very specific plan for her and Negan. I think you'll like this chapter.

aishiteru naru: Daryl, and the rest of the Walking Dead crew will make their appearance eventually, but Crimson needs to get established in Sanctuary and figure out Negan before that happens. I hope you like Crimson and my take on Negan so far!

Kiwi Mania: Thanks for reviewing so fast, it was great to get some positive feedback right away! I explain the outfit in this chapter. I hope you enjoy it!

Crimson felt her heart skip a beat, and not in the feel good, excitement kind of way. It was in the, brief moment of terrified panic, kind of way. She stood frozen in place for a second before she took a deep breath and collected her thoughts.

"I'm sorry, but what did you say?" she asked Sherry.

"He's going to ask you to marry him. He's gotta really like you, he's never asked anyone as soon as they come in. Normally he'd let you live the working life for a while to see how much better being a wife is. It's a great offer, the best you can get now." Sherry started walking towards the bathroom again, her high heeled shoes clicking on the concrete, and this time Crimson followed. "You don't have to work for anything, and you get anything you want, food, clothes, cigarettes, TV, whatever. And you get free roam of the entire Sanctuary, except Negan's office and bedroom."

"Free roam, walking around in lingerie?" The disgust was evident in Crimson's voice.

"Oh no!" Sherry laughed. "This is just to welcome him back home. They were gone for a few days. I'm a jeans and cute top kinda girl normally." Sherry pushed open the bathroom door and both women stepped inside.

"What happens if I decline his offer?" Crimson asked.

"I don't know, no one ever has. He won't be happy though, so you'd best just say yes. The shower has whatever you need, and you can get a new razor from the pack by the sink. Negan doesn't like body hair so grab a couple if you need to. I'll get you some clothes. Looks like my shirts will fit you, but no way you'll fit those hips in my jeans so I'll see what I can find. I'll be back in a few." Sherry shut the door behind herself as she left.

Crimson inspected the bathroom. There were no windows, and only the one door. The dim florescent lights gave the tiled floor and walls a drab yellow hue. It looked like it had been a small staff bathroom when the factory was still functional. There was a standup shower in the left corner, with a toilet, sink, and standard mirror above the sink. The full length mirror mounted on the back of the door looked like a recent addition. She saw a few small holes on the floor tile around the toilet, indicating it had once had a stall around it. Even with that gone, the bathroom looked nothing like what you would find in a house.

She stopped when her reflection in the full length mirror caught her eye. She looked like shit, like a feral woman dragged in from the woods. When she thought about it, that's almost what she was. Her once long and sleek auburn locks were a tangled mess, darkened and matted with blood. There was so much dirt stuck to her skin by dried sweat and blood that she couldn't even tell what color her skin was. Her clothes weren't any better. She knew the bathroom must stink horribly with her standing in it. She met her own eyes in the mirror. Had they always looked so hard, so cold?

No, they hadn't. Her mind flashed back to a time she tried so hard not to think about.

 _She was leaning over the sink, putting the final coat of mascara on her already long, dark lashes. Her eyes were bright, and even sparkled like a damned fairy tale when she felt his arms slip around her waist._

" _What you puttin' all that on for?" his gruff, but quiet voice still made her stomach flutter, even after 2 years._

 _She set the mascara down and spun around in his arms so she could face him, her hands coming up to stroke his face._

" _You said we're going out tonight," she answered, looking up into his beautiful blue eyes. "I want to look nice."_

" _You always look nice. Don't need all that." He nodded his head towards her makeup bag on the counter._

" _You're just saying that because you hate it when I get dressed up and other men look at me."_

" _Don't make no difference if you dress up, they always look." He pulled away from her, looking down at his hands as he fidgeted. She stepped up to him, leaving no space between them so he had to look her in the eye._

" _It doesn't matter if they look or not, because I'm only looking at you." She reached up and put both hands around the back of his neck, twisting his short brown hair around her finger. "Johnny Depp could walk into the bar and I wouldn't care."_

" _You gonna get tired'a me one day," he said as he dropped his forehead to her shoulder. She smiled into his hair. He never believed he was good enough for her, even after everything they'd been through and everything he'd done for her. She spent so much time showing him what a good man he was, and he still didn't think he was good enough._

" _I've known you my entire life and that hasn't happened yet, so it's never going to. I travelled all over the country for school and never once met a better man than you. You've got the hottest girl in town on your sexy ass arms, so take me out and show me off. And try not to punch anyone tonight." He just grunted his usual "mmm" in response, and she laughed._

She shook her head to clear her mind. Nostalgia makes you weak, and she couldn't afford to be weak right now. She walked back to the door and turned the deadbolt. That would at least buy her a minute if someone came inside. In the shower, she found shampoo, conditioner, face wash, and body wash. She sniffed the body wash, the smell of brown sugar made her stomach growl. It only took a minute for the water to warm up after she turned the hot water knob. She couldn't help but smile, it had been a couple years since she had hot water to shower in. A small pond under the summer sun or a wash cloth with a pot of water warming over a fire was the closest she'd had since the dead rose up.

She adjusted the cold water to her liking before she stripped down. She looked at the bag of razers by the sink and decided to take one before she stepped under the water and pulled the shower curtain closed. With her eyes closed, she stood under the stream, letting it wash over her face. When she looked down at the water, a murky black and red stream swirling around the drain.

It took three rounds of shampoo before her hair felt clean. She used her fingers to comb the conditioner through her hair before rinsing it, and enjoying the once forgotten feeling of soft, clean hair. She grabbed a wash cloth hanging by a towel just outside of the shower and wetted it before pouring a generous amount of the delicious smelling body wash on it and soaping up. It only took two rounds before she felt truly clean. She ran the razor under her arms to rid herself of that hair, but touched nothing else. No one would be touching her legs, or anywhere else tonight. She rinsed one last time and reluctantly shut off the water. It wouldn't due to waste hot water and piss off her… unusual host.

There was a soft knock on the door as she wrapped the towel around her chest.

"It's Sherry," her voice muffled behind the door. "Sounds like you're done, I got clean clothes for you. I think it'll all fit."

Crimson walked over to the door and when she didn't hear any signs of anyone other than Sherry, she unlocked the deadbolt and cracked the door open enough to see Sherry and reach her arm out for the clothes.

"Thank you," Crimson said after she took the clothes, then shut and locked the door again.

"Negan's office is the first door to the left as you're coming off the elevator. He's waiting for you, so just knock when you're ready. That's my makeup bag under the sink, feel free to help yourself. And you can just leave your dirty clothes on the floor, someone will come to clean up and wash them for you." Crimson rolled her eyes. It's the god damned apocalypse and there were women here still putting on makeup.

She unfolded the clothes and set them on the counter to sort them. There was a pair of barely there black lace underwear, a matching pushup bra, jeans, and a dark gray tank top with a lace overlay. She slid on the underwear and jeans, then tossed the bra to the side. There wasn't a snowball's chance in hell that she was going to be putting her breast on display for Negan. The lace was only attached to the tank top at the shoulders and since she was lacking a knife, or any sharp object, she used her teeth to rip the threads and tossed the lace on top of the bra before she slipped the tank top over her head.

She looked into the mirror and used her fingers to comb out her hair. The conditioner must have been good since she was able to get the last of the tangles out. She thought about looking for a hair tie to braid it back, but it was harder to get away from someone, or something, that had a hold of an entire braid versus just a chunk of hair so she left it down to dry.

One last look in the mirror, and she sighed to herself. It was time to face her fate. Negan seemed… volatile, egotistical, and chauvinistic. Volatile was easy to deal with, backwoods country rednecks like she grew up with were all volatile. Her own redneck, he had an explosive temper, wore his heart on his sleeve, and acted before he thought. Chauvinistic men think with their dick, another easy to deal with trait when you're a pretty girl. Egotistical was the hard one. Egotistical men always have a line and it wasn't one you wanted to cross unless you wanted to see how volatile they could get. So far he'd seemed amused by her natural stubbornness, smart ass remarks, and lack of regard for his authority but at some point she could push too far. She needed to figure out where that line was. Based on what she'd seen of his cult following and amassed power, she'd probably already walked that line. Men like him wanted people to bend and break, anyone who didn't was a threat to his authority. But she wasn't the bend and break type.

She unlocked the door and pulled it open. The hallway was empty and eerily quiet. There was no sound coming from the door Sherry said was Negan's office, so she knocked on the door. A few seconds later, it swung open to reveal the smiling face of the big man himself. He gripped the door with one hand and leaned against it with that cocky grin on his face. He was wearing the same outfit, jeans, red scarf, and black leather jacket unzipped to reveal a tight white t-shirt underneath. His clothes had already been cleaned. His hair was freshly washed and slicked back. His eyes travelled down her body, and his brow furrowed when they reached her chest. So he'd been expecting her to put on the bra. Did he chose the entire outfit?

"Well now, don't you clean up nice? I thought you were hot before, but god damn! And not a stitch of makeup, just a natural goddess. Come on in, get something to eat before it gets cold." He stood back and pulled the door open for her. She quickly glanced around the room before she stepped in.

It wasn't like the other rooms she'd seen. It was more like a luxurious study than an office. The mahogany hardwood floor was covered by a large area rug in the middle of the room, a small dining table with 2 chairs sat on top of the rug. There was a fire crackling in the glass front wood burning stove that vented out of a window. One entire wall was a floor to ceiling bookcase, filled with books. A high backed dark leather chair sat next to the stove and she could see the indentations in the cushion indicting Negan had just been sitting there. There was a book resting on the small end table next to the chair. She saw a closed door behind a large wood desk to her right. Several crystal bottles sat on top of the desk, presumably holding liquor, and there papers stacked neatly to the side.

She could smell the food from just inside the doorway and her mouth was already watering. Negan closed the door behind her and walked over to the table to pull a chair out for her.

"I had something special cooked up for your welcome dinner," he said. "Have a seat."

He pushed the chair in after she sat down, and then took his seat across from her. Dinner was served on fine white china, complete with a black linen napkin and matching silverware set. There was a large helping of mashed potatoes, french cut green beans, and a fat, juicy steak. She wrinkled her nose for only a moment, but he caught it.

"Something wrong with the food?" he asked.

"I'm sure the steak is delicious, but I'm a vegetarian," she replied. He burst out laughing, and she raised a questioning eyebrow to him.

"You've got to be shitting me. It's the apocalypse, most of the few people left alive are starving, and you're turning down a perfectly cooked, Black Angus steak?"

"Yes. Just because it's the end of the world, doesn't mean I have to sacrifice my morals."

"I watched you slit a man's throat without blinking an eye."

"I never liked people much. That's why I went to vet school, and not med school." He laughed at her again.

"You managed to survive out there, wandering around the woods with a bow and never had to shoot a deer or a rabbit for dinner?"

"Not once. You'd be surprised how many plants are editable, and eggs aren't that hard to come by if you know where to look."

He nodded, impressed with her resourcefulness, and then stabbed her steak with his fork and flopped it on his plate next to his own.

"All the more for me then. Take my potatoes, you need a big meal." He scrapped his potatoes on to her plate.

"Thank you." She took a bite of the potatoes and almost moaned at the delicious buttery flavor. They were fresh mashed, not the boxed powered kind she'd come across occasionally. "I know you didn't invite me for dinner just to stare at me."

"No, that I didn't doll. I'll grab us a bottle of wine and we can talk."

"No thank you, I don't drink wine."

"A sophisticated doctor lady and you don't like wine?" he asked, truly puzzled.

"I guess you didn't listen to me in the truck. I grew up with junkie trailer trash parents. I'd never even seen a bottle of wine until I started college when I was 16. But if you have some whiskey, I'll take that."

He smiled at her and asked what she'd like it mixed with. She shook her head.

"Nothing, just on the rocks. But without the rocks, since ice makers don't exist anymore."

"I can do that," he said as he stood up, grabbed one the bottles with one hand, two glasses with the other, and brought them over to the table before he poured each of them a glass. She took a sip, it was strong but flavorful. Probably the best whiskey she'd ever had and her face must have said so. "Good shit, right? That's Macallan single malt scotch whiskey, 30 years old. 800 fucking bucks a bottle before the end of the world."

"I don't know if it's $800 good, but it's good." She set her glass down. "So, what did you want to discuss?" She continued to eat, waiting for his response. Strong liquor on an empty stomach was a bad idea, especially when she hadn't had a drink in a couple of years. It wasn't smart to drink when dead guys were walking around trying to eat you.

"We have some rules here at Sanctuary you need to be aware of. Lucille, she's a real stickler for the rules. And everyone's got a place, so we're gonna figure out yours." Crimson nodded, to acknowledge that she was listening. "I think I already told you the no rape rule, so no need to worry about that happening here. I have a point system established here. You want food, water, clothes, a shower, a place to sleep, medical care, a magazine, whatever, you work for it. The bare essentials are pretty cheap, so most everyone can earn them. The good shit, like seasoning on your slop, a can of soda, a cigarette, a clean mattress, those cost more so not everyone gets them. Everyone works, but not everyone's job is equal, so they earn different amounts of points. No one takes anything without having enough points, or they face some serious consequences."

"What kind of jobs are available around here?" Crimson asked.

"There are a lot of options, and new comers are matched to the best job for them. We have cooks, janitors, gardeners, seamstresses, maids, one teacher, one nurse, an architect, an engineer, shopkeepers, blacksmiths, prostitutes, and some useless peons that maintain the roamers on the fence. There are two jobs that everyone wants, but only the best receive. My soldiers, and my wives."

"Your soldiers and wives have it easier, I assume?"

"You catch on quick. My lieutenants and wives get whatever the fuck they want, no points needed. A new shipment comes in, they get first dibs. They have the best rooms, the best clothes, the best food, TVs and DVD players, iPods, and almost all the other luxuries they had in the world before. The rest of my soldiers still earn points, but they earn a shit ton of points in comparison to say, a janitor. Soldiers get most everything they want, just have to work a little harder. More risk, more reward."

"Sounds like a fair system. Unless you're a janitor, then it probably sucks."

"That's right," Negan laughed. "And that's why I'm going to make you an offer of a lifetime doll. I'd like you to marry me. All I ask is for your loyalty to me. Now, normally my wives don't have to do a god damn thing except keep me happy, but since you're a doctor I'll need you to patch people up when it's needed. You won't have to deal with the peons and janitor types often. They rarely have enough points for medical care. But since you'll have to work on occasion, you'll get first dibs on shipments, ahead of everyone except me. That's a fucking sweet deal."

"No, thank you. I'll stick with the doctor job."

"Really? Why the hell's that?" Negan was frowning. He was obviously shocked at her decline.

"Polygamy isn't really my thing. I'm a one woman, one man kind of girl."

Negan pursed his lips before he answered, "Alright, I can respect that, but you're going to have to work real hard for those points." He put both of his arms on the table and leaned forward. The table was small enough that he was half way over it, giving her that same, charming, smirk. "And when your mouth is watering for some fresh potatoes and you don't have enough points for them, you're going to wish you'd said yes."

Crimson dabbed the corners of her mouth before she set her napkin down on the table and leaned in towards him.

"No. I'll work, but it won't be for points. You'll give me whatever the hell I want."

Negan cocked an eyebrow at her before he responded, "What the fuck did you just say?"

"You heard me. I'll be Sanctuary's doctor. I'll also be going on runs at least once a week. I'll live on the 9th floor with your lieutenants and my own private room. You're going to give me all of my weapons back. When I want something, I get it, just like your lieutenants and wives. And I won't be kneeling to you like some fucking cult fanatic."

"And what in the fuck makes you think I'd agree to that?"

"You'll want me on runs anyways, because I'm quick, quiet, and smarter than every idiot you have around here worshipping you. You've already seen what I can do, so that condition benefits you as much as me."

"Don't want to get weak sitting behind these walls?"

"That's right," Crimson answered. "Looks like you catch on quick too." This was it, the time to see how far she could push the beast before he lashed out. "Everything else you're going to agree to because you need a doctor and I'm a damned good one. I may not have treated people before all this, but I specialized in large animal which means I know a little bit of everything for all type of animals, and humans are still part of the animal kingdom. I'm one hell of a surgeon. One day you're going to need me to save your life, accidents happen, it's inevitable in this world." She leaned in a little more, and locked her eyes with his. There was a glint in his eye, a mixture of desire, intrigue, and anger. "And when the day comes that your life is in my hands, you're going to want to make sure that I _really_ like you."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N Thank so much to everyone reading, following, and marking this story as a favorite! If you haven't please leave a written review, I would love to hear your thoughts and comments on the story. Reviews really inspire me to write more!

Msgemgem: Crimson's a fighter and a survive, but fighting isn't always done with fists and weapons ;) She knows how to keep herself alive without sacrificing her own dignity, you'll see some of that in this chapter.

BaMBy666: I think it's pretty obvious to any TWD fan too, but I'm not saying anything until it's time for him to make his appearance ;)

Ks90, Aki Hotaru 16, coreyfiniff, aishiteru naru, and Guest: Thank you, I'm so happy you're enjoying the last chapter and the story so far!

Crimson focused on her breathing. In, out, in, out. It felt like a century before Negan final moved, that grin never leaving his face.

"You got one giant pair of balls for a chick," he said, leaning in until his lips were only centimeters from hers. "I like you, and you're right, I want you to like me too. So you got a deal, on two conditions: you get that little pink gun and a knife when you're outside Sanctuary walls. Inside, you get nothing. You show me that I can trust you and then you can have them all back inside and outside Sanctuary. And those doctor skills better be as good as you're claiming, or we'll have a problem. I don't like liars, and I don't give shit for free."

Crimson leaned back in her chair, distancing herself from Negan so she could stop her pounding heart. She smiled at him, the adrenaline rushing through her veins combined with the little bit of whiskey she'd drank was making her feel almost giddy, and over confident.

"I am that good," she said with a smile. "What's the second condition?"

"You have dinner with me, every night, zero exceptions." She raised a questioning eyebrow. "I want to get to know you. And who wouldn't want such a god damn gorgeous dinner companion?"

"Fine," she nodded. Always ask for more than you want when you're negotiating, and you'll get exactly what you need in the end. He actually gave more than she'd expected, the man was thinking with his dick. "I can accept those conditions." She took the last few bites of her potatoes and emptied her plate. "That was delicious, thank you. If you don't mind, I'd like to see my room now."

Negan nodded, set his own napkin on the table before he stood up and walked around the table to help her up.

"Thank you," she nodded to him. "Your manners certainly don't match that foul mouth of yours."

"I told you I'm a real fucking gentleman, doll. The room that was prepared for you was up here, with my wives, so you'll have to set up your place yourself tomorrow. It'll be fine for sleeping tonight though, if you're sure that's where you want to stay. The 9th floor are my best men, but they can be a little rowdier than me and you're an awfully big temptation."

"You said you don't tolerate rape, correct?"

"That's right."

"And you have complete control over everyone here at Sanctuary?"

"That I do."

"Then there shouldn't be anything for me to worry about," she smiled at him, almost mockingly.

He nodded his head then held his arm out to her and she took it immediately this time. The walk to the elevator was silent. He was letting her observe her surroundings. There was a man she hadn't seen before standing next to the elevator, an assault rifle casually resting in his arms. He snapped to attention and dropped to one knee as they approached.

"Who's that?" she asked.

"I keep guards on each floor. The smaller upper levels have one each, and you'll see a few wandering around the lower levels. They make sure everyone is following the rules, and keep the place from getting overrun if someone dies in their sleep in the middle of the night and no one notices until they're back up again."

Negan gently led her in to the elevator and hit the button labeled "9". When it dinged a moment later, he placed his free hand over hers on his arm. It was a subtle, yet possessive gesture.

The doors opened to reveal a hallway similar to Negan's 10th floor. It was long, with doors on both sides and a bathroom at the end. He guided her out of the elevator. Another guard was posted next to the elevator here. He dropped to knees the moment he saw Negan. It was ridiculous, the way people seemed to worship him. It left an uneasy feeling in her gut. She was observant and gifted at reading people, but crazy people were harder to predict.

The doors were all shut, but she could hear a TV coming from one. It took a moment for her to remember what the sound was, it seemed like a lifetime ago since the last time she'd seen a functioning TV. There wasn't much use for one when electricity was rare and noise attracted the dead.

"Simon's room is the largest," Negan pointed to the room directly below his office. "Dwight, Bud, Wade, and Paula are here right now, so you'll meet anyone you haven't already in the morning. There are a couple of rooms available near the back. Take the one closest to the staircase. All of my lieutenants share the same bathroom at the end of the hall, but I'd rather you take the one flight of stairs up and use the wives."

"I'm assuming Paula is a woman, so does she use the wives bathroom?"

"No, but she's proven herself to be one mean, coldhearted bitch and she's nowhere near as smoking hot as you. I'd rather avoid the appeal one might have accidently walking in on you naked. It'd be awfully hard for them to keep their hands to themselves. I sure as shit couldn't. And here we are." Negan opened the very last door to the left. "It's the biggest available."

Crimson stepped inside as he flipped the light switch on the wall for her. It was one large room, with a neatly made twin sized bed and short dresser against the left wall and a couch and coffee table in the middle. The right wall was lined with industrial cabinets with a sink and refrigerator. The sealed concrete flooring had chips and stains. It reminded her of an old laboratory, so maybe that's what this floor had been before.

"I'll show you around the rest of the place tomorrow. You can see your new clinic, and we'll head to the shops so you can get whatever you need. Get some rugs, TV, DVD player, some shit for the walls. This place looks fucking depressing right now. Meet me on the first floor, 8am sharp."

Crimson glanced around the room before she said, "There's no clock or alarm in here, so I can't guarantee I'll be there and ready by 8am. I'm not a morning person."

Negan thought for a moment before he turned and walked out. Crimson peaked her head out of the door so she could watch him, puzzled. He walked up to one of the doors across the hall and pounded on it for a minute, until it opened. Crimson couldn't see who was inside.

"Wade, you off tomorrow?" Negan asked him.

"Yeah Boss," she heard a man answer.

"Good. Give me your alarm clock."

"My…" the man was obviously confused.

"Did I fucking stutter? Give me your god damn alarm clock. Now."

Less than a minute later, Crimson saw a hand gripping a small black alarm clock poke out of the door. Negan snatched it and turned back towards her as the door closed. He brushed past her and set the alarm clock down on the dresser next to her new bed. She followed him back inside.

"Should I give that back to him in the morning?"

"No, he can go get another one himself tomorrow. The fridge isn't plugged in, so I'd get that going now so it'll be cold for you to fill up tomorrow." He gently ran his finger under her chin and tilted her face towards his. He leaned down, so close that she could feel his breath on her lips. Her heart was pounding in her chest again, so hard she could barely keep herself from shaking. "I'm gonna take good care of you doll, if you let me. Don't be late."

His hand dropped to his side and he made his way towards the door. He stopped in the doorway and turned back to her. "Keep this door locked when you're home. I'll get you a key tomorrow." And then he was gone, pulling the door shut behind himself.

Crimson took a deep breath, then did as he'd said and turned the deadbolt to lock the door. She leaned her back against and door and slid to the floor, pulling her knees up to her chest. Deadheads surrounding a heavily fenced creepy old factory, a very attractive and possibly crazy cult leader, big guys when guns down on their knees worshiping him like some kind of god. How long could she play this teasing game before he became angry at her turning him away? He was used to getting his way, it was obvious that no one said no to Negan. What did she get herself into?

Crimson didn't sleep well that night. The alarm went off at 7am and she practically jumped out of bed, tangled in the sheets, slapping her hand around on the bed searching for her gun. It only took a moment for yesterday's memories to come flooding back and she hit the alarm clock to silence it before she fell back onto the bed.

She'd slept deeply, the kind of sleep you can't get sitting in a tree, or locked in a cabin with the dead walking around outside where they could tear the house down if they realized a meal was waiting inside. She'd even dreamt. Pieces of dreams flashed through her mind. Negan's breath on her neck, rotting heads on pikes, a barbed wire covered wooden bat obliterating a skull. She sat back up and shook her head until the grogginess was gone.

The two small windows let in some sunlight, but not enough to wash away the dark, depressing feeling the room held. She was still wearing the clothes Sherry had given her the night before. She'd checked the dresser for clothes, hoping to find a shirt to sleep in, but no such luck. Her bladder was telling her it was time to get up, so she ran her fingers through her hair to tame it and made her way over to the door.

Purely out of habit, she stopped to listen before she opened the door. She could hear movement outside, and the murmuring of voices. It was time to make some friends, who better to start with than her new neighbors? She turned the bolt on the door and stepped out into the hall. Simon was there, and another man she didn't recognize. He was shorter than Simon, with straight brown hair, just long enough to fall in to his brown eyes. At first glance he didn't seem very intimidating, but movement and body language said differently.

"Well now," the shorter man said as he cocked his head to the side, smiling at her. It wasn't the type of smile that gave her a warm, fuzzy, friendly feeling. "What do we have here?" He had a soft, quiet voice. He looked and sounded like he'd been a paper pusher, peon office type before the world went to hell. Or maybe an overworked basic laborer who didn't have the balls to move up to management. Those guys were often the most dangerous, thinking they had something to prove. Crimson walked over them with a smile. After all, you caught more flies with honey.

"Bud," Simon said, "Meet Crimson. Crimson, Bud. We picked her up out on the run, brought her back last night. She's a doctor."

"A doctor, huh? You look a little young for a doctor," Bud said.

"I'm a smart girl," she said as she flashed him a bigger smile. "School didn't take me very long."

"That's a good thing for us then, we've been needing a good doctor." Bud slide his sleeve up, revealing a long cut on his forearm with very sloppy stitching. "Cut myself pretty good on a run the other day, that nurse we got didn't do a very good job stitching me up."

Crimson gently took his arm in her hands. She ran her thumb along the outside of the wound. The flesh was puckered and uneven, like some of the stitches were to loose, and others were too tight. She patted his hand before letting it go.

"I'm told I'll be down in my new clinic later today," she told him. "Come see me, I'll take those out and get you proper stitches so it'll heal better. That is, if you don't mind the pain. Can't waste painkillers or numbing agents on a non-life threating wound."

Bud grinned at her. "I don't mind at all."

"Simon, you have anything that needs to be looked at?"

"No ma'am," Simon replied, his eyes narrowed slightly at her, like he was trying to read her. He didn't smile at her and stood stiff as a board, his arms crossed over his chest.

She nodded to Bud, then Simon. "Alright then, good day, gentleman." She made her way to the stairs, pushed the steel door open and let it close behind her before she stopped to listen.

Crimson could just make out their words. Simson said something about Bud keeping his hands to himself. Bud asked why, and Simon informed him that Negan was very interested in fucking her, and apparently he didn't like to share. Bud didn't say anything else and then the sounds of heavy boots hitting floor echoed down the hall.

It was important to make friends with the lieutenants. You never knew when you would need a favor from someone, a favor that could mean life or death. And if anything even happened to Negan and leadership changed, she wanted to be in good standings with whoever stepped up. Most men didn't share Negan's no rape ideals. Bud was easy to read. Flash him a smile, stroke his ego a little, don't speak poorly of his leader, and he was done for.

Simon, on the other hand, was going to be a little more difficult. He was already suspicious of her. Maybe because he knew she killed one of their men, and kept a gun hidden from Negan. He knew she wasn't just a pretty face. If she hadn't jumped in and saved Negan, she'd still have that gun inside the walls of Sanctuary. She could only hope the rest of the lieutenants would be as easy as Bud. Except Paula, Crimson knew most women hated her so this Paula was likely to be as difficult as Simon, maybe more so.

It only took a minute to get up the stairs to the 10th floor. The hallway was empty when she opened the heavy door, Negan's door was closed, so she went straight to the bathroom and locked the door behind her. She quickly relieved herself, washed the dried sweat off of her face and neck in the sink and used the toothbrush and toothpaste she'd found still in their packaging last night. After she pulled her hair back into a ponytail, she pulled the door open and slammed straight into Negan's chest.

"Woah there doll!" Negan said, his large hands softly grabbed her arms to steady her. "Might want to watch where you're going."

"Sorry!" she exclaimed, her heart pounding in her chest again, the way it always seemed to when he was around.

"No worries, just don't fall down the fucking stairs or something. It's only 7:30, but if you're ready, I'll take you on your detailed tour of our home." He held his arm out for her so she took it.

"Did you need to use the bathroom before we go?"

"No, I have my own bathroom. None of my wives get up this early, so when I heard someone at this end of the hall, I figured it was you. Where would you like to start?" he asked on their way down the hall towards the elevator.

"Why don't we start with the main floor? Seems like most of the important things are down there, and I'd like to see my clinic soon."

"First floor it is," Negan said as he hit the button. "How'd you sleep?"

"Fine, thank you for asking. It was nice sleeping in a real bed and not worrying about being overrun by deadheads in the middle of the night."

"You sure as shit don't have to worry about that here. No one bothered you, right?"

"No. I saw Simon in the hall this morning, and met Bud. He seems nice."

"He is, if you stay on his good side. He has a habit of shooting people he doesn't like." The elevator dinged and the door glided open. "Let's start with the cafeteria, grab something to eat before we get to the fun stuff." He placed his free hand over hers again, like this was some sort of date.

As he led her down the hall, people, both adults and the occasional child, dropped to their knees and bowed their heads. Some muttered "Negan" to greet him before they did, others were silent. It was so unnerving, Crimson didn't know if she would ever get used to it. She never saw them standing when she glanced back over her shoulder, so they must have waited until Negan was completely out of sight before they stood up.

He took her through an open set of swinging double doors, she could see the doors were propped open at the base with door jams. The smell of cooking breakfast hit her nose and her mouth began to water. Hot oatmeal had never smelled so amazing. When she was on her own, breakfast usually consisted of a protein bar, stale crackers, a canned vegetable, or whatever wild berries she could find in the right season.

"That smells delicious," she told him. He brought her over at an empty table before sitting down next to her and nodding towards one of the cooks behind the serving counter. The cook immediately brought over two bowls with spoons and two small glasses of orange juice. Crimson noticed that no one else had orange juice, just water. It must cost extra.

"Oatmeal? This fucking sucks. Have breakfast with me tomorrow. You eat eggs?"

"Yes."

"Great! I'll have some eggs and potatoes cooked up in the morning for us."

"Where do you get eggs and all those fresh potatoes?" She couldn't hide the surprise in her voice.

"We have a farming community that supplies us. The good, fresh shit costs a lot of fucking points so you won't see it served in here. They get the pork and beef remnants for sausage when we get fresh meat in so nothing gets wasted. Don't eat in here on those days. That shit smells worse than dog food."

They finished their oatmeal in silence. Crimson watched as people walked by Negan, bowing their heads to him each time they passed. People came in, got in line, and checked in with the first man behind the counter who had a large notepad where he would make a mark for each person. He must have been keeping track of points. After they checked in, people moved down the line, got a bowl of oatmeal and glass of water, sat down at any table that wasn't Negan's, ate, then brought their bowls to a table by the door. Crimson stood up and went to grab her bowl, but Negan's hand caught hers.

"Leave it," he offered his arm to her again, and she took it. It was like she couldn't walk around the place without him. That, or she was some sort of trophy and he was letting everyone know she was off-limits. Or maybe both.

He took her further down the large hall, pointing out small things as they went, like a bathroom there or an office where they kept track of points and people could bring up minor concerns like a faulty faucet. Eventually they reached the rooms she'd had assumed were the marketplace, and she'd guessed correctly.

"Pick out whatever you want, let me know when you're ready and I'll show you your clinic. Don't take too long." Negan left her to speak to the shop keepers. She assumed he was letting them know she didn't need points for anything. She looked around the tables and noticed each item had a piece of paper with the number next to it, indicating the amount of points needed for each thing. She wasn't sure how much a point was truly worth, how much work went in to earning points and how many could realistically be earned.

The shops were somewhat organized, large shelving systems like you'd find in a small grocery store displayed them items. Food items were kept together, toiletries had a large section, electronics, clothes, and she noticed weapons were kept right next to one of the checkout counter.

Crimson found a hand basket and loaded it up with food. She found Poptarts that had only expired a year ago, a couple of cans of soup, a fresh loaf of bread along with a small jar of peanut butter and home canned grape jelly. She couldn't resist grabbing a couple cans of genuine Coca-Cola along with some bottled water. Then she moved on to the toiletries and grabbed a hair brush, a bar of soap, and dental floss. She grabbed a bottle of shampoo but remembered the wives' bathroom was fully stocked so she set it back down. There was a large section of books, so she grabbed a couple of Stephen King novels without looking at the titles, something to get her started until she could come back and browse when she wasn't on Negan's time.

In the clothing section, she found a couple of plain fitted women's t-shirts in her size, so she grabbed them along with another pair of jeans, and a 6 pack of plain women's underwear. There were no bras in her size, and no other jeans or pants that would fit her. She brought her basket over to the counter, where Negan was still talking to the shop keeper behind the counter. He was casually leaning on his arm that was resting on the counter, like he didn't know how cocky he looked standing like that. There was a 32" flat panel TV and DVD player next to him.

"Good morning Ma'am," the shopkeeper greeted her. He was a portly looking older man who didn't look like he'd survive too long on his own outside of these walls. "I'm George. Did you find everything alright?"

"Yes, I did. Pleasure to meet you George, I'm Crimson."

"You didn't want to grab anything to spruce up that depressing ass room?" Negan asked, then gestured towards the TV with his thumb. "This is the biggest TV anyone is allowed. No need to waste power on anything else bigger."

"That will be fine, thank you. I didn't see anything I liked. If I can go out on a run this week, I can get some things from some houses nearby."

"I'll arrange an outing for you tomorrow. There's a housing development about 30 minutes away that we haven't taken the non-essentials from yet, all still full of that house-wife went crazy decorating shit." The shopkeeper took a note of each item she took and she unconsciously raised an eyebrow. "He's not marking points, just the inventory log. We keep track of everything that comes and goes. There have been a few times shit went missing and I had to beat the piss out of the thief when we caught them. Come on, let's go see your clinic."

This time she took his arm without his offering and he smiled down at her.

A/N: Sorry this was a slow chapter, but it was necessary to start really setting up what Sanctuary looks like, how Negan is going to treat Crimson, and for her to have some interaction with people other than Negan. The next chapter will be more exciting, I promise!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N Slight spoiler alert in my notes, so don't read this note if you haven't seen Season 7, episode 4! This episode was amazing and terrible, all at the same time. Seeing Daryl like that made me cry a little, but Negan was hilarious. Was I the only one that couldn't stop laughing at Negan's response when Father Gabriel snuck up on him?

Welcome first time readers, I hope you enjoy the story and please follow, favorite and leave a review! I love hearing your thoughts.

ElectroGirl444: Thank you, I'm glad you like my Negan! I hope you like this Negan filled chapter ;)

msgemgem: I love your reviews so much, they make my day! Crimson won't just fall into bed with anyone, even Negan, no matter what. I think you're really going to like where I'm taking their story. You're going to see her become the lady that he needs.

MistahJ's Kitten: Thank you! I hadn't thought of Holland Roden as Crimson before, but she does fit the description. I don't really picture any specific person when I create a character, but I'm fond of red heads (they have that fiery attitude I love!) and found Emma Stone or Elena Satine fitting my idea of her.

Enchantmentanjel: I'm so glad you're enjoying it! Daryl will be a little ways away because I'm trying to somewhat follow the timeline of the show, and this story starts around the beginning of season 6. I already have his entrance fully planned and it's going to be a great one, the timing just needs to be right. Don't worry, I absolutely love him, so he's going to play a big roll once he's introduced. Negan gave into her demands more easily than he would with anyone else because he loves a challenge, and he loves beautiful women. Put those two traits together and he's got his hands full, in a way that he loves. I saw a similar situation with the way he treated Carl in Sunday's episode, episode 4 of season 7, it just wasn't sexual like it is with Crimson. I'm thinking he has a soft spot for pretty women and kids.

JustCallMeWhatever: Thanks again for catching that so I could correct it, silly mistake I didn't notice! If you ever notice anything else like that, please let me know! I hope you like this chapter.

Aishiteru naru, starrat, and KEZZ 1: Enjoy this chapter, thanks for reviewing!

The walk to the clinic was short from the shops. Negan said someone would bring her new things to her room so they would be waiting for her. The clinic was a large, open room with an exam table in the middle. The countertops with cabinets and drawers that lined the walls were surprisingly bare. Crimson almost didn't notice the mouse of a woman who was sitting on a stool in the corner. She hadn't noticed them enter.

"That's Nancy, our nurse. Nurse Nancy, fucking awesome name, right?" Nancy practically fell off of the stool and to her knees when she heard Negan. "She was one of those school nurses, dealing with puking kids and headaches, not the kind of shit we need taken care of, so she kinda sucks at her job. Isn't that right, Nancy?"

"Yes, Negan, I'm so sorry," Nancy said with her head down. Crimson could just see her face. She was plain looking women, maybe in her mid-forties, with bushy brown hair and glasses.

"Not to worry, we've got a real Doc to give you some direction now. Just don't fuck up, you don't have any excuses anymore." He turned to Crimson. "She did an okay job with the basic stuff, like keeping minor shit from getting infected, and she does all the screenings on the new people. Everyone gets a checkup when they come in. Can't have fucking Typhoid Mary coming in here and killing my people. That includes an STD check, don't need that shit getting spread around either."

Crimson glanced around the clinic until she found what looked like a small laboratory set up in the corner Nancy had been sitting. There was a basic microscope on the counter, and she found simple supplies like test tubes, petri dishes, swabs, syringes, even chromatography paper. But they were lacking a lot of important testing supplies.

"Nancy," the small woman raised her head, unsure if she should stand in Negan's presence. "It looks like you grow bacterial cultures and immunochromatography for tests, but nothing else. Is that right?"

"Yes Ma'am," Nancy answered.

"Well Negan, the good thing about you finding a vet instead of a human doctor is that vets do a lot of their own testing. This lab is pathetic. Is there a college nearby?"

"We got one of those community colleges about an hour away."

"Good. We'll need to go there, and hit at least one veterinary office tomorrow." She began searching through the cabinets. They had a good amount of supplies, and the medication cabinet was well stocked. "Looks pretty well stocked. How fast do you go through things?" Her only answer was silence until Negan spoke.

"Well Nancy, the lady asked you a fucking question," he said.

"We can never have enough bandages and sutures, but medications usually last a while," Nancy said. "Not a lot of people have enough points for them."

Crimson was stretching up, standing on her tip toes to reach the bottles on the middle shelf, looking at each label and shaking them to gauge how full they were. She didn't notice how her tank top was riding up, revealing several inches of creamy skin on her stomach and back. But Negan noticed.

"Nancy, get the fuck out of here," he barked at her. She scrambled to her feet and practically bolted out of the door, which Negan shut behind her. He leaned his back against the door so he could watch Crimson. "Do we need to have Nancy do a check up and run those tests for you today?"

"No need to waste the supplies, there's nothing wrong with me. I'll check my own vitals later."

Crimson couldn't reach the last three shelves, so she climbed up the counter and she was on her knees, still stretching up to reach the top shelf.

"What about the STD tests?"

"No point in that, I haven't been with anyone since this all started. There's no way I had anything then, but if I did I'd know by now, symptoms would be obvious, or I'd be dead, depending on the disease." She was struggling to reach the last bottle on the top shelf and felt herself lose her balance when Negan was suddenly behind her.

"Having some trouble, Doc?" His hands were on her waist, steadying her as she set the bottle back down. She could feel the cool, soft, leather of his glove on her left side, and the warm roughness of his skin against hers on the right. His thumbs were drawing circles on her skin, it felt like fire and ice against her flesh.

"No," her voice caught in her throat, which she cleared before she spoke again. "I'm fine. I just need to get down."

"Allow me," Negan slid his left hand around her stomach, wrapped all the way around her waist before be pulled her back into his chest and lifted her off of the counter with ease, then set her feet to the floor. She immediately gripped the counter for support. He didn't loosen his grip when he leaned forward, his breath caressing the back of her neck. "Wouldn't be a fucking gentleman if I didn't help a lady when she needs it."

Crimson steadied herself and turned around in his arms so her face was almost against his chest. She was trapped between him and the counter, so she put both hands on his chest and gently pushed him as she looked up at him. He didn't budge.

"I said I'm fine. You can let go of me now."

"You sure that's what you really want? You're shaking like a fucking leaf, but that ain't fear in your eyes. I think you want me to set that beautiful ass of yours on this counter and fuck you 'til you're screaming my name." He slide his right leg between hers until it was pressed into her core. "I can feel how hot you are right now. I bet if I slipped my hand into your panties right now, your pussy is already dripping for me."

He was right, she could feel the damp heat between her legs, the kind of desire she'd only felt for one man before.

"I said no." She pushed him again, this time with some force and he allowed a few inches of space between them. "I told you I'm a one man, one woman kind of girl. So much so, I've only been with one man. A little bit of physical attraction isn't going to change that, so sorry to disappoint you. Now get off of me."

Negan smiled as he stepped back, dropping his hands from her body. "So you admit you're attracted to me?"

"Obviously. You're a handsome man, intelligent, and charismatic. Ugly men don't get cult followings and a harem of willing women. That doesn't mean I'm going to rip my clothes off and tell you to fuck me on the counter. So you can leave now, I'd like to finish setting up my clinic in peace!" Crimson was yelling at the end. She wasn't sure if she was more angry at him for continuing to push himself on her even after she'd told him no last night, or more angry at herself for being so turned on by him. Negan wasn't smiling at her anymore.

"You're pissed, I get it," he said. "I'll leave you alone, let you calm the fuck down. I'll be back to pick you up for dinner. You'd better not still be yelling by then. That shit is downright disrespectful." He opened the door and left, not waiting for her response. Without even thinking, she picked up a beaker that was sitting on the counter and chucked it at the door as it closed behind him. It did nothing to quiet her anger as it shattered against the door, sending shards of glass across the floor. That arrogant bastard thought he could order her to stop being angry when he was doing what she'd told him not to? He was dead wrong.

She was surprised when the door opened again and Negan came storming back in.

"What the FUCK was that!?" He stopped just inside the clinic, the door shutting behind him.

"It was a beaker and lucky for you I was aiming for the door, and not your head you arrogant prick!"

"Are you out of your god damn mind woman? I should fucking kill you for that shit!" Negan was loud, but he wasn't screaming like she was.

"Go ahead and try, you tyrant asshole!"

Negan moved towards her, and she stepped forward to meet him. He grabbed her hard by her upper arms and she could see the fury in his eyes.

"You're not afraid of me, are you?"

"No," she said, every bit of her standing tall, proud and defiant. "Fear is useless."

She didn't even have time to register what was happening when one hand grabbed her waist, the other threaded through her hair and his lips came crashing down on hers. There was nothing soft or gentle about his kiss. It was fierce, commanding, and she opened to his demanding tongue as she wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer, tangling her fingers in his thick hair. He tasted like he felt, hot, hard, masculine, and powerful. There was a fire running through her veins, she couldn't remember ever feeling so alive. His tongue stroked hers, promising all of the things he could do to her. She hadn't even noticed they were moving until the exam table hit her lower back and he lifted her up so she was sitting on it, his lips never leaving herself. His hands were on her knees, sliding up the inside of her thighs, spreading them until he could fit between them, then pulled her into his chest. His hands were sending tremors down her spine.

When she felt him, large and hard, pressed into her core, with only a few pieces of clothing separating them, she snapped back into reality and pulled away from him.

"Stop," she panted. "Stop, we can't do this." His gloved hand came up to her face, his thumb stroking her cheek.

"Why the hell not?" He was almost as breathless as she was, his voice was so low he was practically growling at her.

"I've only known you for two days!"

"Jesus fucking Christ sweetheart, this is the mother fucking apocalypse, two days is like two months when you can die any damned minute." He leaned down to kiss her again, but she pulled back, putting both of her hands on his chest. He stopped when he could see the shame and confusion in her eyes.

"That doesn't matter. I'm not that kind of girl. I could never sleep with a man who shares his bed with any other woman, it's disgusting and I have far too much self-respect for that. You share yours with three."

"What do you want to do?" His thumb was still softly stroking her cheek.

"Nothing," she said as she pushed him away and hopped off of the table. "Just leave me alone and go back to your wives. I get why you have them, the symbolism and power they represent, but keep your hands off of me as long as you have them."

Negan didn't have a chance to answer before the door swung open and Bud walked in.

"Hey there, Doc! I…" he cut himself off when he saw Negan and dropped to one knee. "Sorry Negan, I didn't see you."

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Negan asked.

"Ms. Crimson was kind enough to offer to fix my stitches this morning, she told me to come see her here today."

"Is that right?" He turned to her. "You already offering free medical care?"

"Bud is a lieutenant, I assumed his medical care was free." Negan cocked his head at her and smiled.

"Lucky for you, you're right. I'll be back in a couple hours to get you for dinner." Bud waited until Negan's boots were echoing down the hallway before he stood.

"Take a seat on table and pull your sleeve up," Crimson told him while she found a pair of surgical scissors, a pre-threaded suture needle, gauze, iodine, and then used the sink to fill a small bowl with water. The scissors and sutures were still in their sterilized packaging, so she only needed a little iodine to clean the wound. She set everything on the table with Bud and poured a small amount of iodine into the water. She washed her hands, slipped on a pair of medical gloves and used her foot to push a rolling stool in front of Bud before she sat down on it. She dipped some gauze into the iodine mixture and took his arm into her hand, gently running the wet gauze down the wound. "This is going to hurt."

"That's alright, can't hurt any worse then when Nancy did it the first time."

"Hopefully not. Just try to hold still."

It only took a few minutes to remove the sloppy stitches, cleanse the wound again, and stitch it back up with neat, even sutures. Bud didn't flinch. He was tougher than she first gave him credit for.

"There," she patted his hand before she released it with a smile and stood up. "Now that'll heal up better now. Try not to be too rough on it. I'll need to see you back here next week to remove them."

"Thanks Doc, very kind of you. I see some glass on the floor, you need help cleaning that up?"

"No, I can get it. But thank you."

"You enjoy the rest of your day now. If you need anything, or anyone is giving you trouble, you let me know." He gave her a smile and a nod before he left. She closed the door and looked up and the clock on the wall. She had a couple of hours to collect her thoughts before Negan would be back for her. She found a small broom and dustpan to clean up the broken glass, so lost in her own thoughts she was only half aware of what she was doing.

He didn't say anything when he walked in the door to the clinic. He just offered her his arm, which she took without question, he had Lucille in his other hand, and he navigated them back through the halls to the elevator, then to the 10th floor and into his office. The table was already set for two, the plates were covered with metal warmers, waiting for them. He pulled her chair out for her as he did the night before, and pushed her in before taking his own seat. He was reaching over to pull the covers off the plates when there was a soft knock on his office door.

"What?" he yelled towards the door. A pretty girl with short blonde hair poked her head inside.

"Negan, I… Oh, sorry, didn't know you had company."

"What in the ever loving fuck do you want, Amber?"

"I thought you might want company for dinner, but I guess you already got some."

"Yeah, I fucking do. And I will every night from now on. If I want you to suck my cock, I'll come to you, so get the fuck out." Amber squeaked in surprise and quickly shut the door. "Sorry about that, fucking girl doesn't know her place sometimes." Crimson rolled her eyes at him, then grabbed her napkin and set it across her lap. "What?"

"The way you speak to woman," she said. "It's so degrading. I find it revolting."

"I only treat 'em like that when they deserve it. I didn't even have to ask Amber to marry me. She offered herself up and stuck my dick down her throat before she even knew how much she'd get from it. Sucking dick's the only thing she's good at, useless as tits on a bull other than that."

"If you ever speak to me like that, or about me like that, and I'll carve your vocal cords out of your throat." Negan smiled.

"And that, doll, that fire of yours, is exactly why the fuck I won't. You respect yourself, know how to take care of yourself, so I respect the shit out of you." He lifted the covers off of both of their plates and set them aside. "Wild mushroom risotto. Cook said it's great. I made one of the dishwashers eat a couple mushroom in case some dumb shit can't tell the poisonous ones from the good ones. Kind of looks like shit though." Crimson could see that Negan had chicken on top of his, which he ate first.

"It smells delicious though. You said you have suppliers, do you trade for food?" She asked.

"Sort of."

"What does that mean?"

"Means other communities give me half their shit, and in return I don't skull fuck them. And we kill the dead fucks, keep them from over running their areas."

"I'd assume no one is happy about that."

"Nah, but they don't have much of a choice."

"I haven't seen any place around here where you grow your own food."

"Well we didn't finish the tour, after the clinic, but we have a couple of small gardens outside and some chickens for eggs between pick ups."

"But not enough to supply food for everyone here year round?"

"No, not that much, why?"

"Just trying to get a feel for how everything runs around here. When is your next supply pick up?"

"Day after tomorrow."

"I'd like to come with."

"Going on a personal run tomorrow, and you want to go on a pick up after that, you itching to get out of here?"

"No, I just like to stay sharp, and I want to see how you and your men do things. I've seen groups fall apart, so I'm not going to really trust that things are good here until I see it all for myself."

"Alright, you can come as long as you don't cause any trouble."

"You've already seen me in action, you know I'll be an asset, not a liability." She'd finished her meal, so she set her napkin down and made her way over to his book cases. She ran her fingers down the spines as she read the titles. There were a lot of classics, Charles Dickinson, Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, Jane Austin. She paused when she found The Art of War. "Have you read all of these?"

"Most of them," he said. "Some of them I'm still getting to."

"I think it's time for me to head back to my room now. I'm tired."

"Not bedtime yet baby doll. We've got a meeting tonight, attendance ain't optional."

"Meeting? What for?"

"You remember those three giant, pissing their pants pussies that were going to leave me for dead? They're getting punished tonight, and everyone gets to watch. They all need to know what happens when you betray me. Let me walk you to the auditorium, I'll get you a front row seat to the 'Don't Fuck with Me Show'."

The auditorium was a large, open room in the middle of the first floor. A very large crowd was gathered, it looked like most of Sanctuary's resident were already there. And in typical, creepy cult fashion, they all fell to their knees and bowed when Negan entered. The man knew how to make an entrance, doors slamming, filling the room with his powerful presence as he strutted in. There were only a few rows of chairs in the front, near a makeshift stage where the three men she recognized where on their knees, Simon, Bud, and a woman she didn't recognize each had a gun to the back of one of the men's heads. He took her to the front and center seat before he jumped up on the stage, Lucille never leaving his gloved hand. It was mostly men who had been sitting down, now on their knees in front of their chairs. They looked like soldiers. She saw Sherry, Amber, and another women slightly hidden next to Amber, all on their knees in front of their seats to her right.

"Well now, thank you all so fucking much for coming. I'd like to start with an introduction, we got ourselves a new, honest to God real doctor. Crimson, stand the fuck up and say hi." Crimson stood and faced the crowd, and gave them a wave. "Sit back down. Everyone else, stand the fuck up. I want to make sure everyone has a real good view of this shit." As Crimson sat back down, she heard the rustling of feet as everyone stood up. "These three sorry pieces of dog shit were supposed to have my back on a run yesterday. We ran into a herd of dead fucks and they were ordered up on the trucks with rifles to take as many down as they could, which they did. But when they ran out of ammo, instead of coming down and fighting on the ground like men, these cocksuckers thought they could just sit up there, saving their own worthless asses, while we got tore apart on the ground. We lost some real fucking good men. That shit is un-fucking-acceptable" There was an outcry from the crowd. Crimson turned her head to glance at the crowd behind her. Some people were standing silently, but others were yelling, fists pumping in the air. She heard some screaming for Lucille to bash their heads in, others were crying out for them to be thrown on the fences, and she heard something about an iron, whatever that was. Apparently some of these people really loved Negan.

"Settle down," Negan yelled over the crowd who immediately quieted. "Settle down. Of course I can't have some spineless sacks of shit for soldiers. But what to do with these three, who were willing to stand there and do nothing. Someone's gotta die for that."

"I'm sorry Negan," one of the men cried out. "I knew you'd be okay, you ain't gonna be taken out by a bunch of walkers! You…" He didn't get to finish his last sentence because Lucille smashed him across his jaw. Her barbed wire ripped through his flesh, bits of skin and blood splattered the stage. His screams of pain were muffled by his obviously broken jaw as he fell to his side.

"Oh baby, that was a good fucking hit! Well now, I guess you're the one who's getting the shit beat out of you." Negan's eyes were wild, he was blood thirsty. He brought Lucille down again over his head. Then again, and again, and again until there was nothing left but blood and brain matter and some small skull fragments. Crimson could see how he loved every second of it when that bat was swinging so gracefully, guided by his expert hands. She wasn't sure what to think. It was beautiful when she watched him work before, cutting down dead heads left and right, but when it was a real, live human being he was beating into oblivion, it was different.

But was she any different? She's lost count of the number of people she'd killed to survive, and that's exactly what he was doing, surviving. Negan wouldn't last long as a leader if one of his Saviors smelled a hint of weakness. They were like wolves, who would follow their leader to the ends of the Earth as long as he was the strongest, but that Alpha male would have his throat ripped out the moment another wolf found a weakness. No, she would have killed all of those men had she been in his position. She just wouldn't have made such a show of it.

"He's been taken care of. Now what do I do with you two? I certainly can't trust you with anything important. I think you'll be working the fences from now on. Simon, beat 'em until they've shit themselves, let them sit in the cells for a few more days, then put them to work on the fences. You're all dismissed." He jumped off the stage, Lucille leaving a trail of blood behind him. Everyone dropped to their knees again, except Crimson who remained in her seat. "Show's over baby doll, I'll take you back to your room." He offered his arm to her, but she shook her head at him.

"You're covered in blood." Negan glanced down at his offered left arm.

"I sure as shit am! He was an extra messy one," he flecked a piece of brain matter off of his arm, onto the floor. "That blood was squirting every fucking where. I need a god damn shower now. Come on." People scrambled on their hands and knees to form a path to the door. His usual swagger was exaggerated as he made his exit.

He didn't speak again until they reached the elevator. "You enjoy the show?"

"Not at all, but I get why you had to do it."

"It tickles my balls to hear that." He smiled at her. "You didn't even lose your dinner. Most people do the first time I deal out a punishment."

She shrugged. "I've got a strong stomach. Some of the crap I had to see and do during school might even turn your stomach a little."

"I doubt that." The elevator dinged at the 9th floor and he walked her to the end of the hall. "And before I forget," he dug into his pocket and pulled out a key. "The key to your room, so you can lock it when you leave." He dropped the key into her hand, then turned it over and placed a soft kiss to her skin. "Good night, I'll see you at 8am sharp, be ready to head straight out." She watched him until he disappeared behind the door to the stairwell.

She looked down at the back of her hand. He'd left smears of blood on it. She could make out the shape of his lips in the red streaks.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: This chapter has an intense, adult only sex scene, don't read if you shouldn't be or if you'll be offended. Only 5 reviews for the last chapter, so if you're reading and enjoying, please leave one!

Msgemgem: Glad you loved the kiss scene! It just kind of flowed out on to the keyboard, much easier than I thought it would. Crimson and Negan are still figuring each other out and setting boundaries, which is hard when they have such a strong physical attraction. And she's a logical person, she understands why things need to be done even if it isn't pretty.

BaMby666: I love, love, love Daryl Dixon, but I'm liking Negan more with each new episode of season 7 so this story line is going to be hard for me. I have an idea of how I want this story to end, but it could easily change as I'm writing, and with how the TV show goes!

KEZZ 1, starrat, and enchantmentanjel: Thanks for another review, I hope you all continue to enjoy my story!

Crimson found her new things waiting for her on her kitchenette counter top, as promised. She opened the fridge and found her drinks cooling. The freezer was empty, except for two ice trays. She hadn't tasted an ice cold drink since a few weeks after the outbreak started and the power went out across the country. She found clean glasses in one of the cabinets, dropped a couple ice cubes in one, cracked open a can of Coke and enjoyed the fizzy carbonation more than she should have.

She sat down on the couch, which felt like it was brand new, to enjoy her drink. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get Negan's kiss out of her head. She'd only kissed a few men before, and only one had set her on fire the way Negan had. The biggest disadvantage of genius was that she started her bachelor's degree at 14 when everyone else in her classes were at least 18. She finished in 2 years and went straight into veterinary school at 16, when everyone else was 22 or older. She made a few friends, she grew up hanging around kids much older than herself, but statutory rape wasn't something anyone wanted to mess with, and the kind of guys that were willing weren't the kind she had any interest in. Her first real anything hadn't been until she was 18 and was back home for her first day of summer break, hanging out at the local, backwoods biker bar she'd practically grown up in with her parents.

 _Crimson was outside the bar, leaning against the wall to get some fresh air. She'd had a few drinks, and was finishing off her last one for the night since she needed to drive herself home in a couple of hours. Tony, the owner, served anyone 18 and up, the cops never came around. She heard the creak of the swinging door and looked up to see her favorite redneck walking out._

 _She'd known him her entire life. His older brother, who was 10 years older, was her dad's drug dealer and best friend. Since he followed his brother everywhere, she couldn't remember a time he hadn't been in her life. When she was a child, he'd been like a big brother. As she hit her teenage years, he'd become one of her closest friends. When her dad and his brother were on a drunken, drug filled bender, he'd take her out hunting and taught her to track because she'd refuse to actually kill any animal. Sometimes he'd find a job at a bike shop and she'd go there after school to learn. She was always thirsty to learn, whether it was calculus, physics, philosophy, tracking a deer, or how to tune up a bike. He was 12 years older than her, but the older she was, the less the difference mattered._

 _She smiled at him, giving him a once over while he headed her way. He was wearing his typical jeans and sleeveless button down shirt. She was 16 the first time she saw him in a new light. He was handsome with his messy brown hair, scruffy facial hair, deep blue eyes, and well-muscled body. Tonight was the first time she'd seen him since she turned 18 a couple of months ago. She knew he would never touch her when she was underage. He was a redneck, through and through, but he had morals._

 _She'd worn her tightest, well fitted pair of jeans and black top with a deep, plunging neckline that complimented her chest while still leaving something to the imagination and a pair of strappy black heels. It had done exactly what she'd hoped, she'd noticed him looking at her a few times and he'd bit his lip and looked away each time she'd caught him._

" _Hey Redneck," she called him that for years. "What are you doing out here?"_

 _He took one last drag from his cigarette before he dropped it on the ground and leaned up against the wall next to her, his shoulders slouched and his head was down._

" _Nothin', just checkin' on you," he said, his voice was quiet but gruff. "Hadn't seen you in a few months. There's some guys here tonight I don't know, shouldn't be out here alone, 'specially since you been drinkin'."_

" _I'm fine. I've just been nursing them all night, barely have a buzz." She bumped him with her elbow. "You know that I know how to take care of myself, learned from the best."_

" _Yeah, yeah you did."_

" _Have you been seeing anyone since I left for school?" His head snapped up at her question._

" _Nah, but what kinda question is that?"_

" _I just wanted to make sure I'm not going to get knocked out but some girl when I do this." She pushed herself off of the wall, liquid courage running through her as she pressed herself up against him and pulled his lips down to hers. He tasted like he smelled, earthy, pine, motor oil, and a hint of cigarette smoke that she could ignore when his tongue was stroking hers and he groaned quietly as she nibbled on his lower lip. She leaned back against the wall, pulling him with her when he seemed to realize what they were doing and pushed her away from him._

" _What the hell you doin'?!"_

" _I thought it was pretty obvious, but we were kissing."_

" _We can't be doing that."_

" _Why not? I'm 18 now."_

" _What's wrong with you?! Don't you got some soon to be doctor boyfriend back at that fancy ass University?" He was picking at his thumb and chewing on his lips like he always did when he was nervous or unsure, and pacing like he did when he was angry._

" _No, and there's no one there I'm interested in, so stop yelling." She grabbed his arm so he had to stand still in front of her. "There's no reason to stop unless you just don't find me attractive. If that's the case, just say so, but I don't think it is, not after that kiss."_

" _Shit, you the prettiest girl in the damn county and you don't need me tellin' you that."_

 _She stepped back towards him and reached up to softly grab his neck. "And you are the hottest man in the damned state, even if you don't think so. Now just shut up and kiss me." She pulled him back down but he resisted. "You've been looking at me all night, and not the same way you used to. We're both adults."_

" _You jus' turned 18 and I ain't no good for you. This place ain't no good for you. I told when you left, you deserve better than anything here. 'Sides, I ain't no good at this shit. I ain't gonna do nothin' but disappoint you."_

" _You know I'm more of an adult than most of the people in that bar. And you can't disappoint me when there's no one to compare to." He was confused for a moment, then it clicked._

" _You sayin' you a…"_

" _Virgin? Yes."_

" _Nah, we really ain't doing this. Jus' go back inside and pretend nothin' happened. You drunk more than you thought." She pushed his chin up until he had no choice but to look her in the eyes._

" _Daryl Dixon, I want you. I've wanted you for the last 2 years. I don't care if you think you're not good enough for me, and I don't care if you've never had a real relationship because you've always been too busy keeping Merle out of trouble and never thought anyone would care enough to try. I know you, and I know what a great man you are. I don't want some University educated doctor or lawyer, I want you. So I'm going to go drop this glass off inside the bar and when I come back out, you're going to take me home with you."_

 _That's exactly what he did. She led him back to his bedroom in the run down little trailer he shared with Merle, who wouldn't be home that night. But she shut Daryl's bedroom door as she kicked off her shoes and switched off the light, just in case. She moved to him, knowing he wouldn't come to her, and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his. She could feel him shaking when he grabbed her waist, but his kiss didn't quite reflect his nerves. It was growing more confident with each breath and she let him take control of it, he knew far more about kissing than she did. She pulled him back until his bed hit the back of her legs, and she laid down, pulling him on top of her, their lips never leaving each other. His hands hadn't moved from her waist, so she slid them up her sides underneath her shirt. His hands were warm and rough, the kind of hands that worked hard for a living._

" _You can touch me Daryl," she said, her voice quiet and breathless. She nipped at his neck, then traced the small mark she left with her tongue and he groaned. "Please, please touch me."_

 _He reached under her back and unclipped her bra, then she sat up just enough to pull her shirt and bra off. He looked so unsure, his eyes flicking back and forth between her breasts and some imaginary spot on the bed while he pulled his lower lip through his teeth. She unbuttoned her jeans, hooked her thumbs through her panties and slid them down her long legs and tossed them on the floor. His room was dark, but the moonlight coming through the window was enough for them to see each other. She caught his face in her hands._

" _It's okay to look at me. I want you to look, and I want you to touch."_

" _I ain't ever tried to please a woman before. It's always just been a quick fuck."_

" _That's okay. I don't even know what I like, so we'll figure it out together."_

 _Daryl leaned down and captured her lips with his own, his trembling hands slowly slid up her chest until he reached her breasts. She gasped when the rough pads of his fingertips brushed her nipples. She reached up and quickly unbuttoned his shirt while his hands explored her chest._

 _She knew about his scars and had seen them a few times before, but never in such an intimate way. He stiffened a little when she gently pushed his arms back so she could slip the shirt off, her fingers brushing his shoulders and the jagged marks down his back. A few seconds later, his pants and boxers joined the rest of their clothes on the floor. She crawled back so that she was in the middle of the bed before taking his hands and pulling him with her. She pushed him down so that he was sitting against the flimsy headboard and crawled onto his lap. She kissed his cheek, his jaw, and down his neck until she found the spot just above his collarbone. She realized her own hands were shaking when she reached between them to wrap her hand around him. He groaned when her hand found him, she gripped him softly but tightly and stroked, the sounds her touch elicited from him sent a tremor down her core. He was so hard, but his skin was hot, soft, smooth, and she felt a sticky wetness when her fingers brushed the tip. She didn't have any personal experience to compare him too, but based on what girls in her freshman dorm had said, he felt longer and thicker than the average guy._

 _She experimented between long, slow strokes and hard, fast ones. He'd tilted his head back, his eyes closed, so she put her mouth back to work on his neck and picked up speed with her hands, pumping harder and faster. "God Daryl," she whispered in his ear. "I want you inside of me so badly right now."_

" _Fuck, Trix!" he yelled as he grabbed her hand to stop her. She looked at him, afraid she'd done something wrong when he pushed her down onto the bed, a growl deep in his throat as his lips captured a nipple. His right hand slipped between her legs. He wasn't shaking anymore, apparently all Daryl Dixon needed was the right encouragement "God damn, you're so wet."_

 _She could feel her juices dripping down her thighs and her ass, leaving a wet spot on his sheets. She couldn't stop the moan that slipped from her parted lips when he stroked a finger through her folds and into her wet heat. "That's how much I want you." He leaned down and kissed her with a confidence he'd never had, pumping his finger into her, hard and fast. Her hips were thrusting up, matching the strokes of his hand. She took his other hand and guided it to the sweet spot above her entrance. "I need you to rub me, right there." And he did. His thumb circled her clit, adding to the building pressure in her core. The thrusts of her hips were growing erratic, her muscles clenching around his fingers when the shockwave hit and she cried out. "Oh fuck Daryl!" He didn't pause until she stopped spasming around him, her body fell back onto his bed, shaking and covered in sweat._

 _He pushed her legs further apart with his knee and slipped between them. "Ya sure you wanna do this? We can stop." She could see him chewing on his bottom lip._

" _Don't you dare stop." He nodded, but went to move off of her anyways. She grabbed his arm to stop him. "I gotta get a rubber."_

" _Are you clean?"_

" _Yeah, got tested when Merle got the clap again last month. I never had anything."_

" _Then you don't need one, I went on the pill last year." He nodded and pressed his lips to hers until his body had hers pinned to the mattress. Her hands gripped his arms. He took himself into one hand and then she could feel him pressing into her entrance. She was so wet there was no resistance, but his girth was stretching her far more than her own fingers ever could and it wasn't exactly comfortable. When he reached her maidenhead, the sharp pain made her cry out and he stopped._

" _I hurtin' you?"_

" _A little, but everyone says it hurts some the first time. Keep going." He pressed harder and she dug her fingers into his biceps as he pushed through her innocence and didn't stop until he was fully sheathed inside of her. He paused, dropping a kiss to her lips while she adjusted to him._

" _Yer so damn tight. You gotta relax or it ain't gonna feel good." He stroked her hair with one hand and deepened his kiss. A few moments later, she felt her body relaxing around him and he began to move inside her. Within few slow strokes the pain subsided and the tingling of pleasure was starting to build. She lifted her hips to meet his, the change of the angle pushed him deeper inside. "This ok?"_

" _Oh god yes, but faster, please!" She wrapped her legs around him, his thrusts quickened, his hips rocking deliciously into hers, his cock stroking places inside of her that she didn't know existed until now. An unfamiliar pressure was building deep within her. When she tossed her head back, gasping for breath, his mouth found the hollows of her throat and she couldn't take it anymore. "I'm so close, touch me again." He slipped his hand between them and his thumb circled her sweet spot and then she was falling, hearing a scream she barely recognized as her own. She could feel him pulsing inside of her as his thrusts grew erratic, and then he stilled, catching himself on his elbows as he collapsed on top of her. She smiled up at him, her fingers softly rubbing the marks her nails had left on his biceps._

 _He rolled off of her, pulling her against his side as he laid back onto his bed. She curled up into his warm chest and couldn't remember a thing after that._

She wanted to take a shower, maybe that would wash away the memories of the day. She looked down at her jeans, and thought they were still clean enough, so she only grabbed one of the new t-shirts and a clean pair of underwear. She went straight to bed after her shower and didn't wake until the alarm was blaring in her face.

It didn't take her long to get ready. She ate a poptart with a bottle of water, brushed her teeth in her kitchenette sink and threw her hair back into a neat ponytail. The alarm clock said it was 7:45am, so she laced up her boots and took the elevator to the first floor. Negan was already waiting, surrounded by a group of his Saviors. She saw recognized Simon, Bud, and Dwight. She saw the woman that had been onstage last night, she guessed that was Paula. There was one more, darker skinned woman who had her black curly hair bleached before the end of the world, there were another 15 or so men.

Negan turned to face her as the elevator doors opened and smiled.

"Good morning baby doll, right on time!"

"Good morning Negan," she said as she approached him. "Are all these fine folks here for my little run?"

"They sure are. We've never been to that college or the two vet clinics Simon mapped out last night. 20 of my best Saviors, just in case we run into some bad shit. As they say, better safe than fucking sorry! And someone is always sorry when shit doesn't go smooth." He swung Lucille around once before resting her on his shoulder. "I believe these belong to you. Don't fucking forget, I'll be taking them back later." He placed her pink .380, extra clip, boot knife, and bra holster in her hands. He leaned forward and whispered quietly enough that no one else would hear. "If you need help getting that holster nestled back between those perfect tits, I live to serve."

She smiled as she tilted her face up to him, her lips just brushing against his ear lobe. "Good thing it fits just fine in my pocket." She pulled away from him before she found Bud in the small crowd. "I thought I told you to take it easy."

"No worries Doc, this'll be easy as pie."

"Just be careful, I don't want to stitch you up again."

"Yes ma'am," Bud smiled at her. She was starting to think his smile was actually sincere.

"Crimson," Negan called to her. "Up here with me. Everyone move out, it's time to roll."

There were 2 military trucks, a cargo van, and a delivery truck waiting at the gates. She wrinkled her nose at the putrid smell of the rotting dead heads on the fence and followed Negan to the delivery van. He took the driver's seat, leaving the only passenger seat free.

"When do I get my bow back?"

"When I know you won't run off when we're outside the gates." He started up the truck and fell second in line to the military truck Simon was driving.

"So that's why you only gave me 12 rounds, worried I'm going to take off the first chance I get?"

"Fucking right." He tossed her an iPod that was plugged into the stereo. "We're heading to the college first, get you your fancy fucking lab equipment, then we'll make our way back home hitting a couple clinics so you can get your doctoring shit and then the subdivision to get your lady shit. Got an hour drive, put on something good." She was scanning through the artist. It was hard to decide which artist should be the first one she listened to in nearly 3 years. "You still haven't told me your real name. I know you said it doesn't matter anymore, but I'm real fucking curious."

"It's Trixielynn." Negan laughed.

"That's the most un-fucking-fitting name I've ever heard!"

"Yeah, I know. Apparently my parents thought I'd grow up to be a stripper or something."

"Oh you'd be great at that baby doll."

"Sorry to disappoint, but that's never going to happen. So let's just stick to calling me Crimson, or Doc. I'm not your baby doll."

"You sure are, you just don't know it yet," Negan grinned and gave her a wink. She shook her head, continuing to flip through the available songs on the iPod. It seemed to be fully loaded. She found what she was looking for and hit play. She turned the music up, and began to softly sing along. Her vocals were soft, strong, melodic, a little hypnotic.

What's coming through is alive  
What's holding up is a mirror  
But what's singing songs is a snake  
Looking to turn this piss to wine  
They're both totally void of hate  
But killing me just the same  
The snake behind me hisses  
What my damage could have been  
My blood before me begs me  
Open up my heart again  
And I feel this coming over like a storm again  
Considerately

Venomous voice, tempts me  
Drains me, bleeds me  
Leaves me cracked and empty  
Drags me down like some sweet gravity

The snake behind me hisses  
What my damage could have been  
My blood before me begs me  
Open up my heart again  
And I feel this coming over like a storm again  
And I feel this coming over like a storm again

I am too connected to you to  
Slip away, to fade away  
Days away I still feel you  
Touching me, changing me  
And considerately killing me  
And considerately killing me  
And considerately killing me  
And considerately killing me

Without the skin  
Beneath the storm  
Under these tears  
The walls came down  
And the snake is drowned and  
As I look in his eyes  
My fear begins to fade  
Recalling all of those times  
I could have cried then  
I should have cried then  
And as the walls come down and  
As I look in your eyes  
My fear begins to fade  
Recalling all of the times  
I have died  
And will die  
It's all right  
I don't mind  
I don't mind  
I don't mind  
I am too connected to you to  
Slip away, to fade away  
Days away I still feel you  
Touching me, changing me  
And considerately killing me  
And considerately killing me  
And considerately killing me

"Where the hell did you get a set of pipes like that?" Negan actually sounded amazed.

"I was eight the first time I told my parents they were worthless junkies. My mother thought I needed Jesus, so I had to spend all day at the church on Sundays. It was either 8 hours of bible study, or choir with a few hours of scripture reading. I picked choir."

"Huh, well, now I'm the only damn god you need."

"I know you have a serious case of post-apocalyptic narcissism, but you don't actually think you're a god, do you?"

"A lot of my people think I am."

"A lot of your people are idiots who are willing to follow anyone who can keep them alive because they're too weak to survive on their own."

"That may be true, but they're still loyal."

"Fear doesn't create loyalty."

"You're not afraid, yet here you fucking are."

"That's because I'm still deciding if it's worth staying, or if I'm better off back on my own."

"That's better than the 'no fucking way I'm coming with you' bullshit you had going on a few days ago. Told you I'd grow on you. So what do we need to get at the college?"

"A couple of real microscopes, not that kid's toy kit you have now. I need as many slides and as much stain as we can take, a centrifuge, scales, a spectrophotometer, more test tubes, and I want to check the chemical cabinets for things we might be able to use."

"I don't have a fucking clue what half that shit is, so I'll just trust that you really need it."

"I do."

They spent the rest of the drive in a comfortable silence, very different from when he brought her to Sanctuary a few days ago. The route was clear, until they left the main road. The last truck stopped long enough for a couple of guys to jump out and take care of them as they found them. A few minutes later, the campus came into view.

It was a large, old, brick building. The parking lot was empty, but she pulled out her boot knife, just in case, before she slid open the passenger door and jumped out. Everyone gathered around Negan.

"We need to scout the building before we decide where to breech. I want a clean fucking entrance and a clean exit. If there are a bunch of those dead fucks walking around the halls, I wanna know about it before we go in. Chris, get all the chains out of the truck, if we don't know what's behind a door and we don't need to go in, I want it chained the fuck shut. Jay, you're up, I'd better know every god damned thing about this place when you get back."

One man, attractive, in his mid to late 30s with short, dark brown hair, a short beard, and tattoos covering his arms nodded to Negan and moved towards the school. He looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't tell if she knew him or not. He had an assault rifle in his hands and a hunting knife strapped to his thigh.

"Wait," Crimson said. "I'll go with him."

"No you fucking won't," Negan replied.

"I know exactly what I'm looking for, no one else does. Everything I need is going to be in one part of the building. If we know exactly where were need to be, then we only have to secure a small section and can be in and out in no time."

"Fine, go."

She noted that the building looked untouched and she and Jay approached. The doors were closed and all of the windows were intact. Other than the layers of dust and grime coating the glass, it probably looked the same as it always had.

"I'm Crimson," she said, holding her hand out to him. He smiled a very sweet smile at her and shook her hand, then introduced himself as Jason. "I'd like to take a look through the windows as we go. Everything I need will be in the chemistry and biology labs which I can recognize."

"Alright, you take the lead."

The both knew better than to speak as they worked their way around the building. There was one dead head, stuck in an overgrown shrub, around the back of the building that she put down quietly with her knife. It was eerily empty other than that. The hallways looked clean, no signs of anything living, dead, or undead. The laboratories she needed were both around back.

"There," she whispered as she pointed to the window. "That's where were need to go."

"Ok," he said quietly. "Let's keep moving, check out the rest of the building just in case."

The scouted the rest of the building and still found nothing, so they returned to the group.

"Easiest entry is through an emergency exit around back, next to the lab," she told them. "No signs of anything inside, so let's hope it stays that way."

"You heard the lady," Negan said.

Everything went surprisingly smooth. Someone broke the lock on the door, they entered quietly, she found everything she'd hoped for, and the Savior's loaded everything onto the trucks.

The first vet office was a bust, it had already been raided, but the second was fully loaded with equipment and medication.

"You want all of the meds, Doc?" Bud asked after they'd cleared the small clinic.

"Yes, a lot of them can be used in humans. The ones that can't will be useful for livestock. Grab it all and we'll get out of here."

She traveled with Negan between each stop. Sometimes they were silent, listening to the iPod, and sometimes they had normal conversation, as normal as you can with Negan's crude mouth. She asked more questions about how things worked at Sanctuary, he still wanted to know more about her. The questions and answers lead to other discussions and she found that she was actually enjoying his company. He was intelligent, funny, and she couldn't deny that he had charisma and charm.

"Last stop baby doll," he said as they rolled down the middle of the suburban style street.

"Are you really going to keep calling me that?" she asked.

"I could call you sweetcheeks because that ass of yours is damn fine." He grinned at her. She laughed and shook her head at him.

"Baby doll it is then. Have all of these houses been cleared already?" The subdivision was small, only one short street with maybe 15 single family, two story homes. The two houses on the end were just shells that has already collapsed.

"Sure have. We cleared and secured them, but someone else could have come by and fucked that up. Donnie can check a couple before we go in."

"No need, I'll do it myself." She started up the steps of the first house before Negan had a chance to stop her. The front door was unlocked and Negan called out to her when she pulled it open.

"Hold the fuck up, that should a been locked!" she ignored him and moved in, knife in hand. The house had an open floor plan, the entry, living room, and kitchen were one open space and she saw 3 dead heads fumbling towards her. She quickly moved towards them, they were spaced out enough that she dropped them one after the other, without a problem. The last one was hitting the floor when Negan, Bud, and Jay ran through the door.

"Damn girl," Jay said. "I guess you didn't need any help."

"Shut the fuck up!" Negan yelled. Jay and Bud both dropped their eyes to the floor. He grabbed her arm firmly, but it didn't hurt. "What in the shit do you think 'hold the fuck up' means? Let me tell you, it means don't be a dumb fuck and go charging in a house that should have been locked when it fucking isn't!"

"Sorry, I'm not quite used to working with other people. I've been by myself for nearly a year, remember?"

"Don't let that shit happen again. You two," he pointed at Jay and Bud. "Go check the next few houses." They both nodded and quickly made their escape from a very unhappy Negan.

"Bud told me that all of the kitchens have been emptied. I'm just going to see what I can find upstairs."

It took 3 houses, but she was able to fill a large suitcase with clothes that fit her. She also took extra bed sheets, a comforter, a couple of books and DVDs, and an almost brand new pair of boots. Negan and the Saviors were filling the trucks up with mattresses, tables, clothes, toiletries, books, and anything else useful they found. By looks of it, it would take several more trips to get everything out of all of the houses.

She chatted with Bud for a little while, helping him carry out some of the larger items. He was pleasant to talk to, less roughneck than most of the other Saviors, and he reminded her a little of her high school history teacher whom she'd adored. She found out he'd been in construction, he did dry wall for houses and businesses. He'd lost his family to the dead, found Negan early on and helped him build up Sanctuary. He was a lieutenant because he'd been with Negan for so long, and was fiercely loyal to him.

The ride back to Sanctuary was only 30 minutes. She hadn't realized she'd fallen asleep until she felt Negan's hand brushing the hair from her face.

"Good morning sunshine. Have a nice nap?" he asked.

"Yeah, sorry, didn't mean to fall asleep."

"It's alright. Why don't you take your shit up to your room, get settled in. Come up to my office for dinner in an hour." She grabbed her gun and knife to hand it to him, but he stopped her with a hand on her arm. "You can keep them, if you promise to not run off in the middle of the night."

"I'm not planning on going anywhere, at least not tonight." She smirked at him before she grabbed her bag and climbed out of the truck.

A/N Everyone's been asking about Daryl, and since I love him but it's not time for him to enter our current timeline, I thought a nice, smutty flashback would be good. I'm still fairly new to writing intimate scenes, so hopefully it wasn't too terrible. The next chapter is already started, so leave a review and give me some encouragement to get it done and posted!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N This is a little shorter than my last few chapters, but I felt the stopping point was a good end to a chapter and already started the next one. Thank you to everyone who followed and favorited! As always, please leave a review!

msgemgem: I'm still new to writing the smut scenes, so you probably didn't miss much, haha! You'll have some more Negan/Crimson in the future. I don't want to rush things, but it is the zombie apocalypse so life is short and moves along a lot faster.

BaMby666: Everyone needs a little Daryl loving sometimes ;) We'll see more Daryl, in the past and future.

Enchantmenanjel: So glad you liked the flashback! I really wasn't sure how well I'd written it, so thank you

EmilyAnnMcGarret-Winchester: Welcome to my story, I hope you continue to enjoy it! Negan is the man that I love, and I hate, and I then I love. I can't get him out of my head, thus the start of this story.

Celia azul: Merle never grew on my quiet the way that Negan has, but I definitely know what you mean! Enjoy this chapter!

Survivormomof4: Thanks for reading, I look forward to hearing what you think of future chapters!

Ashyyyflower: Thank you so much! Daryl has such a unique speech pattern, I spend a lot of time trying to get it just right because so many people don't and I can't read a story with Daryl when he's either speaking perfect English, or his slang is so overdone that he sounds like he doesn't even speak English at all. He's so reserved and shy about himself, but he still opens up to people once he lets them in, so he's just a hard guy to write in general.

Starrat, KEZZ 1, and Phox: Thanks for reviewing, please enjoy this chapter and leave another one!

It didn't take Crimson long to organize her new things. She changed into one of the t-shirts she'd picked up at the market. She'd managed to stay fairly clean when she took down the dead heads, but she still had a little blood spatter on her shirt. She was usually efficient with her time so she should have had everything settled in its new place in 15 minutes, but her mind was wandering. Negan was swimming through her thoughts, no matter how hard she tried, he wouldn't leave. He was as stubborn in her mind as he was in her life. She glanced at her gun and knife sitting on the table. He was starting to trust her and in return, she was trusting him.

She put the shirt in a pile with her new clothes and bedding. Bud had told her he would send one of the laundry girls up to fetch her bedding and clothing so it could be washed before she used it. The woman was prompt, arriving only a 30 minutes after Crimson started unpacking the suitcase. She knocked quietly on the door, Crimson called for her to come in, she hadn't locked the door.

"Hello Ma'am," the older woman said after she closed the door behind her, an empty laundry basket in her arms. She looked like she'd been living a hard life, even before. Her skin was pale, leathery, with deep set wrinkles. Her brown hair was dry and dull, her clothes were faded and worn. "I'm here for you laundry."

"Hi, I'm Crimson," she smiled at her. "What's your name?"

"Danielle."

"It's all piled right there, next to the bed."

"I'll have it back to you first thing in the morning. Negan said your stuff is a priority."

"There's no rush, but thank you Danielle." Danielle gathered Crimson's laundry into the basket and left quietly.

Crimson neatly stacked her books and DVDs on top of the counter. It reminded her that she needed to find a bookcase. She looked at the clock, she had about an hour before Negan would come get her for dinner, so she grabbed a book and curled up on one end of the couch, her legs tucked underneath her while she propped herself up against the armrest. The sun had just set and it was getting cool inside, so she pulled a blanket over her lap.

She was really enjoying the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, not even realizing how much time had passed when she heard another knock on her door, so she called out for the person to come in. She looked up to see Negan, Lucille slung across his shoulders and she gave him a smile.

"What the fuck did I tell you about keeping this damn door locked?" he asked.

"I'll lock it before I go to sleep. Since you so kindly let me keep my .380," she pointed to the gun on the table, easily within her reach, "I can shoot any marauders that come in to try and have their way with me."

"I don't give a shit. Keep this door locked, 24/7. Now come on, I'm fucking hungry, dinner's waiting."

She made a mental note of what page she was on and that she needed to find something to use as a book mark. She set the Hobbit down on the coffee table before she uncurled herself from the couch and folded up the blanket.

"You cold?" Negan asked.

"It's a little chilly," she answered. Negan dropped Lucille down to his side, threw his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into him. She could feel the warmth of his body through his leather jacket.

"I know a great way to warm you right on up," he grinned down at her and gave her a wink. Crimson huffed and tried to push his arm off of her. "I'm just fucking with you. Well, unless you want to, then I'm not. But I think we're friends now, right? Friends can walk around like this." He reached down and placed her arm around his waist. "Didn't you get yourself some warmer clothes today?"

"I did, but they're being washed. I'm supposed to have them back in the morning." Negan lead her out to the hall, leaned Lucille against the wall so he could locked her door with his free hand. Apparently he also had a key to her room. "Craig," he called out to the guard down the hall as he picked the bat back up. He looked up at Negan as he was kneeling. "Tell laundry to have Crimson's shit ready by tonight." Craig nodded and Negan walked her into the elevator.

Dinner was waiting for them, a fire roaring in the fireplace and candles were lit on the dining table.

"Nice ambiance, but if you're trying to romance me into your bed, it's not going to work." His gloved fingers were stroking the bare skin on her arm and she couldn't suppress a shudder. "Nothing is going to work."

"I know, I know, not as long as I'm a married man. Just relax and sit down." He pulled her seat out for her after he set Lucille down. She realized they were developing some sort of twisted route. He took his seat across from her and pulled off their plate warmers. The smell of burritos and Mexican rice hit her nose as she picked up her fork and started in on it. Beans, cheese, lettuce, and tomato wrapped in a deliciously soft tortilla. "I want to make something perfectly clear for tomorrow. You do not leave my side. Not for one, single, god damned second. Pickups usually go smoothly, but I'm not taking any chances, especially after you ran off like some fucking warrior princess and could have got yourself killed."

"There were only three of them, it wasn't a big deal."

"What would you have done if there'd been 20 of those fucks in there?"

"The same thing I did to the three. Only you might have made it in time for you and Lucille to take care of a few. I know you wouldn't let anything happen to me."

"Feeding my ego isn't getting you out of trouble, good fucking try though baby doll." His eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. "You don't go more than 10 feet away from me outside those walls tomorrow. Got it?" Crimson nodded.

"I heard someone talking about an outpost. Not everyone lives here?"

"We have a couple of outposts. They're mostly for storage, keep our supplies spread out in case someone is fucking dumb enough to attack Sanctuary. Each one has a crew of my Saviors. We usually bring supplies straight to an outpost, then move it here. I don't like too many people knowing where home base is."

"That's smart. Do you have any farming or livestock operations at the outposts?"

"No, I keep my soldiers there, not fucking farmer Joe."

"Is it really smart to rely on people you subjugate for your food and supplies?"

"It is when they're too damn scared to do anything other than follow my fucking orders. I leave a… lasting impression the first time I introduce myself."

"I'm sure you do. I can see how much you love to put on a good show."

"That's fucking right. Simon runs most of the pickups, we don't have problems. The last pick up from the Kingdom, where we're going tomorrow, it was lighter than I like. That's why I'm going along, make a personal appearance."

Their conversation continued on casually through dinner. Negan wanted to know more about her, about things she enjoyed before the end of the world came around, her favorite food and drinks, even her favorite movies. They played quid pro quo, she asked the same questions of him. They had more in common than she would have ever guessed. They were both avid readers, though she didn't share his love of a fat, juicy steak. Their plates were long empty by the time they were discussing their favorite authors and debating the meaning behind novels they'd both read. She was laughing when she finally glanced at the clock on his desk, she realized the time.

"Oh my god," she exclaimed. "It's 1am! Where the hell did the time go?"

"Time flies in such damn fine company."

"I need to get to sleep. We're supposed to be heading out at 8."

"We can always continue this in my bedroom with a couple of glasses of whiskey."

"Nice try, but I'll be heading back to my own bed. Thank you for dinner and the conversation, it was lovely." She folded her napkin and placed it on the table.

"I'll walk you back to your room." She took his offered arm and he led her down the hall. "I hope you're feeling at home here, Doc. Whatever you need, you let me know."

"I think this place will be sustainable, with some adjustments," she told him.

"What kind of adjustments? I think run a pretty tight fucking ship around here."

"I'm still observing, so I'm not ready to make a real judgement yet."

"You tell me when you are. That'll be a good dinner conversation for another night." They reached her room and she unlocked her door. She noticed a basket of clean laundry sitting in the hall, next to her door. Negan leaned his shoulder against the doorway when she stepped inside.

"Thank you," she said. "Really, tonight almost felt like a normal night, the kind of normal we had before the dead started walking around."

His hand brushed against her cheek when he tucked a tendril of loose hair behind her ear. He gently cupped the back of her neck, his fingertips were dancing on her skin, setting it afire.

"I'm going to kiss you goodnight now, Doc."

"Negan, don't," she said, placing her hands on his chest to try and distance them. His thumb swept across her lower lip.

"I can't stop thinking about these god damn gorgeous lips of yours. I know you've been thinking about me too. That kiss was un-fucking-forgettable." Before she knew what was happening, his lips were on hers, her body pressed against his strong chest by an arm locked around her waist. It was different this time, slow and sensual, but no less powerful. She whimpered against his mouth when his tongue asked for entrance. She yielded to him, slipping her arms around his neck, pressing closer into him, desperate to feel all of him. Time ceased to exist as his tongue stroked hers, one hand held the back of her neck, thumb stroking her cheek. The other softly held her hip, each movement of his fingers sending a surge of warm wetness between her legs. Each kiss grew more urgent than the next, soon she was gasping for breath when he broke the kiss, leaning his forehead against hers. When she opened her eyes, she saw that his were closed.

"Negan," she spoke softly.

"Yeah, baby doll?"

"Goodnight." She placed a chaste kiss on his lips before she pulled out of his arms and shut the door. A minute later, she heard his boots echoing down the hall. After she heard the stairwell door shut, she opened her door and dragged in her laundry then locked her door.

Was this how 'the other woman' felt? When she wanted a married man? Crimson couldn't ignore the fact that he shared his bed with other women. That those women felt his lips on theirs, and on other places Crimson had been dreaming they would go. But she also couldn't ignore how much she was enjoying his company, how he could make her smile and laugh, and how a single touch set her body ablaze.

What the hell was she doing?

She woke to a pounding on her door, someone was yelling her name. She quickly snatched her gun from under her pillow and jumped to her feet. There was nothing that could wake her up faster than the sounds of chaos.

"Who is it?" She called out, standing next to the door in a pair of yoga pants and a loose t-shirt.

"It's Bud, we got a situation and need you down in the clinic, quick!"

She unlocked the door and found a very disheveled Bud, covered in blood spatter, smelling like dead, rotting flesh. He firmly grasped her arm and led her straight to the elevator. She was glad she slept in a pair of socks that night, she hadn't thought to grab her shoes.

"What happened? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but we got another man, he got bit on the ankle. We already took his foot off, above the bite, but we can't get the bleeding to stop." They were at the clinic in no time. Saviors were all over her clinic, she had to shoulder her way in. There was a man she didn't recognize on the exam table. She jumped up on a chair so she could shout above the noise of the crowd.

"I need everyone except Nancy, Simon, and Bud out of here, now! You're welcome to wait in the hall, but if you want this man to live, get the hell out, right now so I can get to work!" It didn't take long for them to shuffle out, and she could hear murmurs of conversation behind the closed door. She quickly assessed the man on the table. Someone had used a belt for a tourniquet at the top of his thigh and covered the wound with a rag. He was pale and weak from blood loss, moaning in pain, but he was still slightly conscious. His remaining leg was pale and cool to the touch, so she undid the belt before the lack of circulation caused him to lose the rest of it. She didn't dare touch the blood soaked rag covering the stump at the end of his lower left leg until she was ready. "Bud and Simon, wash your hands and get a pair of gloves. Nancy, I need clean water for washing him, alcohol, gauze, clamps, forceps, scalpel, iodine and water in a wash bottle, and dissolvable and regular sutures. I also need you to pull up a proper dose of bupivacaine, I know I saw it in the cabinet the other day. There's a book on medication and dosages on the counter if you aren't sure."

Crimson slipped on a lap coat and a face mask, washed her hand right after Bud and Simon, then pulled on a pair of gloves. She looked up when the door opened and Negan stepped in. He closed the door and leaned against the wall with Lucille, out of the way. Nancy parked a small rolling cart next to Crimson, complete with two filled wash bottle, clamps, forceps, scalpel, alcohol, gauze, sutures, and a full syringe. Crimson double checked the bottle on the cart to make sure it was bupivacaine.

"Thank you. Simon, I'll need you to hold his shoulders and Bud, you get his leg. I can't have him moving. This is going to numb him but it takes up to 10 minutes to kick in and we can't wait 10 minutes to start."

"I got his leg," Negan said as he approached.

"No, your hands aren't clean, but you can hold his arms down. Nancy, be ready to hand me that wash bottle and the forceps." When everyone was ready a moment later, she wiped around outside of the leg near the wound with alcohol soaked gauze then injected the anesthetic in to 6 different locations.

"Am I gonna die?!" the man asked in a panic.

"I won't let you die. But I need you to hold very still. This is going to hurt." Then she pulled the bloodied rag from the leg and washed away as much blood as she could with the bottle until she could see the area most of the blood was coming from. The moment the forceps dug into his flesh, the man was thrashing and screaming, but the three men were able to keep his leg from moving much. It took a minute, but she was able to find the artery and clamp it with the forceps. She used the scalpel the cut away damaged tissue and form enough of the skin flap to fold it over. The man had quieted, he had passed out, but was still breathing. She washed the entire wound with the iodine, rinsed it with clean water, and stitched him up, dissolvable sutures for the artery and regular for the exterior leg.

She dropped her bloodied tools back into the cart and tossed her gloves on top. The clock on the wall read 3:17am. The adrenaline that was pumping through her during the surgery was wearing off, so she leaned against the counter top.

"Great job everyone, thank you."

"Nice work, Doc," Simon said. His face said he was sincere, almost respectful, very different than the usual distrust he gave her.

"Thank you. You all can go, get some sleep, I'll stay here with him. What's his name?" Crimson asked.

"Jerry," Negan answered. "Nancy will stay with him. You need to get back to bed. You look like shit."

She didn't even have to energy to rip him a new one for his rudeness. She just nodded, told Nancy to give Jerry his first dose of injectable penicillin and monitor him for any negative reaction to either medication, and followed Negan out into the hall. Several men were still waiting.

"Jerry is going to be find gentleman. He's resting now. You all get some sleep and you can see him tomorrow."

There were several murmurs of "Thanks" and "Thanks, Doc" as the men dispersed. She followed Negan down the maze of hallways towards the elevator.

"You weren't lying," Negan said.

"About?" she asked him to explain.

"Being damn good at your job."

She propped herself against the corner of the elevator when they entered. She closed her eyes, they were so heavy she could barely keep them open. She hadn't even realized she'd fallen asleep until she woke up. The only problem was, she wasn't in her room, and there was an arm around her waist attached to the warm chest pressed against her back.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N Thanks for reading! I hope my fellow American readers have a great Thanksgiving! If you're enjoying the story, please favorite, follow, and review!

Msgemgem: I'm having some fun with cliff hangers lately, kind of like the show, haha! And it is an unwritten rule about his bed. I'd written out most of this chapter before I posted the last one, and you'll find we're on the same page ;) Enjoy!

EmilyAnnMcGarret-Winchester: Crimson gets a little fiery in this one, so I think you'll be happy with it!

Celia azul: The dark side isn't always a bad place to be! If you're a Star Wars fan at all, I decided I wanted Darth Vader to be my dad many, many years ago when I wanted A New Hope for the first time and I was 9.

Bamby0304: I have a huge Negan problem too. I mean really, everyone should hate him, but I just can't. Not with that filthy, hilarious mouth of his and that gorgeous grin. This story helps me release my unhealthy obsession with him ;)

Enchantmentanjel: I think Negan can be perfectly sweet when everything goes his way. Which you'll quickly see it doesn't always and we have our good, old fashioned, slightly psychotic Negan in this chapter. Enjoy!

Charlie2193: Thanks for stumbling on to my story! I'm so glad you love my characters and I hope you continue to enjoy it. Trust me, I'm a huge Daryl fan so he will make a grand appearance when the time is right.

KEZZ 1, aishiteru naru, MistahJ's Kitten, kagomesdance, and Guests: Thank you all for your reviews, I hope you love this next chapter!

The haze of sleep was still washing over her as Crimson woke from a deep slumber. Her eyes were still closed, heavy from sleep, and she was warm and comfortable from the blanket and the warm body surrounding her. No matter how they fell asleep, Daryl always managed to wrap himself around her, like he was afraid she'd sneak off in the middle of the night and never return. She smiled to herself and stretched when she felt his manhood pressing against the back of her thigh through his jeans. She thought it was strange that they were both clothed since they always slept naked until she finally opened her eyes and saw a room she didn't recognize. It was large with a window, dark mahogany entertainment stand with a large TV, fireplace underneath it, and the same high ceiling that Negan's floor had.

Negan… she remembered getting into the elevator with him and nothing after that. She slowly turned her head and confirmed that it was Negan wrapped around her and her chest tightened. It took everything she had to not burst into tears right there. How on earth had she thought he was Daryl? It had been nearly 2 years since the last time she woke up and expected to find him next to her. Suddenly the idea of another man's hands on her made her sick. What was she doing with a man who was the absolute opposite of everything she loved about Daryl? Daryl may have been a rough redneck with an explosive temper to those who didn't know him, but underneath it he was loyal and kind and beautiful and loved her so deeply that sometimes she'd forget to breathe when she looked into his eyes.

In that moment she wanted nothing more than to see him again. She knew he was dead. And not the kind of dead that got back up. No, he would have never allowed himself to turn into one of those disgusting things. He was the right kind of dead, probably got himself killed trying to save Merle. The whole world might have gone insane, but Daryl Dixon would have found her if he were still alive. Accepting his death didn't make her feel any less guilty about waking up in another man's bed, especially a man who couldn't even respect her enough to leave her alone when she asked, a man who asked her to join his god damn harem of women like she was some kind of whore.

She had no clue how she'd ended up in Negan's bed. He had obviously taken her to his bedroom when she passed out in the elevator. She was slowly sliding away from him, trying to move him as little as possible when his arm tightened around her.

"It's only 7," he grumbled, his voice low and deep in his tired state. "Go back to sleep." Crimson sat up, his arm fell around her hips and into her lap.

"Where are we?"

"My bedroom. Now go back to fucking sleep." He cracked his eyes open just in time to see her wiping at the tears that never quite fell. "What the hell's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, I'm fine, other than waking up in a strange bed with you. And why am I in your bedroom, in your bed, with you?" Negan grumbled something about 'stupid fucking questions' under his breath as he came to terms with the fact that she would not be going back to sleep.

"Relax, you were so god damn exhausted that you passed out in the elevator. I didn't have my keys on me to take you to your room and lock your door so I just brought you here. Nothing happened. I could have put you on the couch and let you wake up with the biggest fucking kink in your neck but I'm a gentleman."

Crimson noticed she was fully clothed, she even still had her now very dirty socks still on. She wasn't sure why his bedroom was empty when he left it last night to come down to the clinic. She'd assumed a man with three wives never slept alone.

"A gentleman would have taken the couch! What the hell is wrong with you? You don't just carry an unconscious woman to your bed and climb in with her! Why aren't any of your wives here?" she asked.

"Will you stop fucking yelling? It's too damn early for that shit woman. And trust me doll, it takes a gentleman to put you in bed and not rip those clothes off and fuck you into oblivion. My wives don't sleep in my bedroom. Don't even let them in here."

"You call me 'woman' again and I'll turn your ass into one. Why don't your wives sleep here?"

"This is my space, where I don't have to listen to them whine and groan and bitch about stupid god damn shit I don't give a flying fuck about."

"I'm going back to my room to change and go get breakfast. I need coffee or I'm never going to get through the day."

"I know a great way to wake up. It'll put me in a real fucking good mood." He pulled her back down to the bed, slipping his hands under her shirt to massage her sides while he kissed the back of her neck. She was trembling against him and she wasn't sure if it was shame, desire, or both.

"Stop," she grabbed his hands and he let her remove them from under her shirt. "The only reason I'm in your bed was because I wasn't conscious when you brought me here."

"Fine," he turned her face towards his own and kissed her quickly. "Go get your damn coffee. I'll see you at the main doors at 8."

"Stop kissing me," she told him as she climbed out of his very comfortable California king sized bed and padded over to the bedroom door.

"Why? You weren't complaining last night. In fact, I remember you taking some damn initiative and kissing me."

"That was a mistake, I was tired and I wasn't thinking straight. It won't happen again. I'll see you downstairs." She closed his bedroom door with a little more forced than she meant to. Oh well, maybe a slammed door would sink the message in a little further. She heard him chuckle to himself behind the door, like he wasn't taking her seriously. "And keep your damn hands off of me you chauvinistic asshole!" she yelled through the door.

She was almost to the hallway when she heard his bedroom door slam open and Negan's booming voice stopped her in her tracks. He was standing in the door way in an untucked white t-shirt and jeans.

"What the fuck did you just say to me?" he was livid.

"I can't dumb it down for you anymore," she snapped. "Keep your filthy hands off. Of. Me."

"Don't you fucking speak to me like that. Maybe I've been too lenient with you. Spare the rod, spoil the child and all that shit. I'm getting real fucking sick of this hot and cold bull shit you seem to find so amusing."

"Stop coming on to me like I'm a bitch in heat and there won't be any bull shit to deal with. What are you going to do? Hit me with your bat? Smash my head in until there's nothing left? Go right ahead big man, kill your only doctor, obviously your ego is larger than your brain." He grabbed her arm with bruising force but she didn't back down. She struggled under his grasp, trying to pull her arm free. "I said keep your hands off of me!"

"You'll shut that pretty little smart mouth of yours if you know what's fucking good for you."

"Fuck you, Negan!"

"God, I get so fucking hard when you scream at me like that."

He pulled her against his chest and Crimson saw his mouth descending on hers. Before their lips met, the resounding echo of her palm across his cheek filled the room. Her eyes grew wide as she realized what she'd done. His grip on her weakened with his own shock, enough for her to wrench her arm from his hold and flee his office. She pulled the door shut behind her as she ran out, like it might stop him from coming after her. Her heart was pounding so hard that she could barely breathe, the sound of blood rushing in her ears was all she could hear, and the tears starting to well in her eyes blurred her vision. She didn't even see Sherry until she ran straight into her.

"Oh, sorry!" Crimson exclaimed.

"What's going on, I heard yelling?" Sherry asked, taking in Crimson's wrinkled clothes, messy hair, and puffy, tear filled eyes. "What were you doing in Negan's office so early?"

"We were, um, just having a slight disagreement. There was an emergency in the clinic last night, I fell asleep before I got back to my room so Negan took me to his."

"You slept in his bed?" Sherry looked dumbfounded.

"Yes, but it wasn't like that, nothing happened. I have no interest in becoming a wife, no offense."

"No one goes into his bedroom, like, no one. Not wives, not lieutenants."

"He said something about that. Look, it was a one time thing. He was just doing a nice thing after I patched up one of his Saviors who'd been bitten."

"You should be careful. Negan's not a guy you want to mess around with." Sherry looked concerned. "You don't play games with him, he plays them with you."

"I don't want to play anything with anyone. I just want to do my job and mind my own business."

"If he's bringing you into his bedroom, it don't matter if anything happened or not, because it's gonna. He's not gonna let you walk away from him."

"Well, I just did. It was nice to see you again, but I need to get down to breakfast before heading out."

"Be careful," Sherry warned.

"I always am when I'm outside."

"I meant in here. Walkers aren't the most dangerous thing anymore. If you're smart, you'll just do what he says. People who don't, they end up on that fence."

"Oh, well, thanks," Crimson answered awkwardly as Sherry disappeared behind her bedroom door.

Crimson needed a shower, but she didn't want to walk downstairs to her room just to grab clean clothes and then come back up, so she headed straight for the wives bathroom at the end of the hall. She showered quickly so she could get down to breakfast with enough time to actually eat after she went back to her room to change into clean clothes and grab her gun and knife.

The walk to the cafeteria was a little different this morning. Usually she just minded her own business, occasionally smiling at someone if they looked at her. Today, almost everyone that she passed greeted her. There was an overwhelming chorus of "hi," "hello," "good morning," and "mornin', Doc" when she stepped out of the elevator. It was making her uneasy, she was never very good in social situations with people she didn't know. She went to stand in the back of the line to get her oatmeal when two different people told her she shouldn't be in line and pointed her straight to the front.

"Mornin', Doc!" the cook greeted. "How 'bout some eggs an' toast? Bread jus' came outta the oven."

"Oh no, you don't have to go to any trouble for me," Crimson said. "Oatmeal is just fine."

"Ain't no trouble at all! Take a seat, I'll bring it straight out to ya with a hot cup of coffee. Cream and sugar?"

"Yes, thank you." Crimson was puzzled, but she looked around to find an open seat. All of the tables had at least one person, and she wasn't a fan of sitting with strangers, though several people were waving her over to different tables. It was like she was the new kid at school, except she was already popular. She spotted Bud at a corner table, flipping through an old, worn magazine while he was slowly eating his breakfast. He looked up as she sat down.

"Good morning, Bud," she said.

"Hey, Doc," and answered after he swallowed a mouthful of oatmeal.

"Ok, I need you to tell me what is going on? Everyone is being extremely friendly this morning, and most of these people I've never even seen before."

"Well, they all saw you at the meeting so they know you. There were some rumors going around about your kamikaze stunt, running into that house by yourself and taking down all 3 walkers before anyone else got inside. Then last night, you saved Jerry's life. We've had to cut off legs when people got bit before, and they didn't all make it. Jerry has a wife and a kid he takes care of, so a lot of people are grateful to you."

"I was only doing my job."

"Well, when that job is saving people's lives, you should get used to the attention."

"Here ya are!" the cook interrupted, setting a plate full of eggs with 2 large slices of butter-covered toast.

"Thank you, but you really didn't have to… sorry, I don't think I've caught your name yet."

"Greg, and it's no problem ma'am! Just'a thanks for saving Jerry. His wife an' mine are real good friends." He ran back to the line before she could say anything else.

"This is just weird. I mean, things are usually a bit strange around here, but this is out of the ordinary."

"Get used to it, Doc," Bud said. "People like you now. You're a nice girl and you saved someone a lot of people like. I already liked you myself."

"Thanks. Hey, would you mind if I ride with you today?"

"Sure. You aren't riding with the boss?"

"We had a… slight disagreement and I'd just rather not today. I need to check on Jerry before we head out, I'll see you at the gate." She downed the last bit of her coffee, pushed her empty plate away from the edge of the table and made her way over to the clinic. She was moving a bit slower, trying to really get her bearings since this was her first trip to the clinic by herself.

Nancy was napping on a rolling chair, her head resting on her arms on the counter when she walked in. Another woman Crimson didn't know was sitting next to the still sleeping Jerry, holding his hand. The woman looked up when she walked in and beamed at her.

"Good morning, Doc!" she said quietly. Crimson smiled and gave her a nod. "I just wanna say thank you for what you did for my husband. I know it's not enough, but it's a start. I'm Claire, and if there's anything at all that I can ever do for you, it would be my honor." Crimson had already grabbed the stethoscope that was hanging on the wall and was checking his vitals.

"You really don't need to do that. It's my job, and what any decent human being who was capable would have done."

"There ain't a lot of decent human beings left in this world, so thank you. How's he doing?"

"His heart and lungs sound good. We'll change the bandage tomorrow, I don't want to risk reopening anything by changing it today. We'll have a better idea of how it's healing then. I'll check back in later today when I get back."

She left a short note for Nancy instructing her to continue giving penicillin every 6 hours and to have her radioed if anything happened that she couldn't handle. Crimson had barely shut the door to the clinic when someone grabbed her left arm and dragged her into the room across the hall. She had her knife in her free hand and pressed against the person's abdomen before the door slammed shut and she realized it was Negan who had her pinned against the wall by her arm. The heated look on his face, along with the small welt on his left cheek and Lucille in his other hand, didn't give her the urge to put her knife down.

"What part of 'keep your hands off of me' did you not understand?"

"I'll put my fucking hands wherever the fuck I god damn well please."

"And I'll spill your guts all over this nice, clean floor if you don't release me."

"I wasn't planning on hurting you, I don't enjoy hurting women like some sick fucks, but if you keep threatening me then I'll do whatever I need to, to put you in your place."

"Put down that bat and I'll put my knife away," she said. Negan cocked his head, but leaned Lucille against the wall.

"You keep calling her 'that bat' and you're going to hurt Lucille's feelings. She's already a little thirsty after that little very ina-fucking-ppropriate display of yours this morning."

Crimson tucked her knife back into its hip holster.

"Your strange split-personality projected onto a barbed-wire covered bat is as creepy as your god complex."

"And you're cheeky ass attitude and lack of appreciation for all I've done for you is wearing my god damn patience thin. The only reason you're even standing right now is because you haven't been stupid enough to pull one of your PMSing bitch stunts when anyone else was around. So I'm shutting this shit down, now. You do what I say, when I fucking say it. No arguing, no throwing shit, no threatening me, and if you ever slap me again that'll be that last fucking thing you ever do."

"And you wonder why I told you to keep your hands off of me?"

"Shut your fucking mouth and get to the gates. We're leaving." He practically dragged her down the halls and through the main doors, she struggled to keep up with his long, hurried strides. He finally released her arm when they reached the trucks. Negan climbed into a cargo van, the passenger seat empty, and popped his head out to ask her what the fuck she was doing when she walked over to Bud's truck.

"I'm riding with Bud." Jason was sitting in the passenger seat. "Would you move to the back, please?" she asked him.

"Yes ma'am," he gave her a smile and moved to the back, kicking someone else out of the truck. The poor guy looked a little panicked when he realize the only open space was in Negan's van. Negan tossed the keys at him and she heard him say,

"You fucking drive, I'm not your damn chauffer."

"You sure you shouldn't be riding with the boss?" Bud asked her as the trucks started rolling down the road.

"And miss out on your company? Not a chance," she replied with a smile and a wink. Bud chuckled. "Now please tell me that someone here has an iPod to plug in so we don't all have to sit here in awkward silence since the new doctor chick decided to ride with you fine gentleman." They all laughed, and Jason reached forward to hand her his iPod from the back.

"It's got some good stuff on it. Just don't break it, it's so hard to find an iPod that works and actually has good music on it."

"I promise I will be extra careful with it. Now, how about something fun?"

She plugged it into the stereo and decided to look through the newest songs first. Well, they weren't so new now, but the newest music available at the end of the world. One song finally caught her eye. Bad Girlfriend by Theory of the Deadman. She used to loved to dance to it at the bar. Daryl said the song was written for her, minus the leaving alone, being stoned, and gold digger parts. After a couple drinks and a few shots, she could get a little wild. Sometimes she'd wind up on the bar dancing with a couple of other girls, other times some random guy who didn't know her and didn't know Daryl would get handsy and she'd knock his ass to the ground if Daryl didn't get to him first. And she always went home with him. She was going to play the song, and then get him out of her head. She couldn't afford to be so weak anymore.

The music started and a couple of guys in the back started rocking their heads to the beat. Crimson smiled and sang along.

My girlfriend's a dick magnet  
My girlfriend's gotta have it  
She's hot, can't stop, up on stage doing shots  
Tip the man he'll ring the bell, get her drunk, she'll scream like hell  
Dirty girl, gettin' down, dance with guys from outta town  
Grab her ass, actin' tough,  
Mess with her, she'll fuck you up  
No one really knows if she's drunk or if she's stoned,  
But she's comin' back to my place tonight!

She likes to shake her ass  
She grinds it to the beat  
She likes to pull my hair, when I make her grind her teeth  
I like to strip her down  
She's naughty 'til the end  
You know what she is, no doubt about it  
She's a bad bad girlfriend!

Red thong, party's on, love this song, sing along  
Come together, leave alone, see you later back at home  
No one really knows if shes drunk or is she's stoned  
But she's coming back to my place tonight  
I say  
No one really knows just how far she's going to go  
But I'm gonna find out later tonight

She likes to shake her ass  
She grinds it to the beat  
She likes to pull my hair, when I make her grind her teeth  
I like to strip her down  
She's naughty 'til the end  
You know what she is, no doubt about it  
She's a bad bad girlfriend!

Doesn't take her long to make things right  
But does it make her wrong to have the time of her life  
The time of her life  
(My girlfriend's a dick magnet)  
(My girlfriend's gotta have it)

She's a gold digger  
Now you figure out it's over, pull the trigger  
Future's finished, there it went, savings gone,  
The money spent

I look around and all I see is no good, bad and ugly,  
Man she's hot, fixed to be the future ex-Miss Connolly!

She likes to shake her ass  
She grinds it to the beat  
She likes to pull my hair, when I make her grind her teeth  
I like to strip her down  
She's naughty 'til the end  
You know what she is, no doubt about it  
She's a bad bad girlfriend, she's a bad bad girlfriend, she's a bad bad girlfriend

"Well Doc, you got yourself a pretty voice to match that pretty smile," Bud said.

"Hell yeah she does," Jason added.

"Thank you gentleman. What would you all like to hear next?"

The rest of the 40 minute ride was spent with the playlist set to random, and conversation between Crimson, Bud, and Jason. The other 2 men in the back were mostly silent, she didn't even know their names. She found out that they weren't actually going to the Kingdom. The leader there, King Ezekiel, kept his bargain with the Saviors as a secret from most of his people. They met in an empty parking lot for exchanges. Apparently Ezekiel was quite eccentric. He tried to speak in old English, called his men knights and they dressed up in makeshift armor and rode horses, and he kept a pet tiger. She was disappointed to find out he didn't bring said tiger to the exchanges.

"Alright, Doc," Bud said. "We're here." The Saviors caravan parked and Crimson hopped out of the truck with the other men. There were several men, dressed as Bud and Jason had described, and one man with a thick beard and heavy dreadlocks she guessed to be the self-proclaimed king.

"Who is this most fair maiden?" Ezekiel approached her with a cool confidence. "How have I not been graced with your presence before?" He held his hand out to her. She took his to shake it, but he bowed to her and kissed the back of her hand instead.

"I'm Crimson. I'm new around here, it's a pleasure to meet you." Ezekiel released her hand and stood back up when Negan came storming up.

"We aren't here for you to woo my fucking women. Only three pigs and a bushel of apples two weeks ago left my Lucille here a little hungry." Negan swung the bat around in his hand to emphasize his point. "I've been doing you a damn great service keeping the dead pricks down to a minimum in your area. I really expect you to be more thankful than three skinny pigs and some fucking apples. Now I've had to come all the way down here to see what the fuck is going on."

"You have my most sincere apology," Ezekiel spoke. "We had to wait for several sows to finish weaning their piglets before we could slaughter more. As you can see, we have six of our finest for you today, as well as potatoes, carrots, and peaches to make up for our poor delivery last time."

"Those had better be some damned good peaches or…" the sound of a high powered rifle round firing cut him off. Crimson automatically hit the ground belly down, hands covering her head. From the corner of her eye, she saw the other men, both Saviors and Knights, slam themselves to the ground or behind a truck for cover.

"Doc!" Bud called out to her.

"Crimson!" Negan yelled, falling to his knees beside her. Several men surrounded him, shielding both of them with their own bodies. She didn't understand what Negan was doing until she saw the blood pooling around her. She looked down to find it was coming from the brand new bullet hole in her right shoulder.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N Thanks for reading! Welcome new readers, and thank you to my current readers who continue to take the time to read my new chapters. If you've been reading but haven't reviewed, please do so, I'd love to hear from you! If you're new, follow, favorite, and review!

Bamby0304: Crimson and Negan are still feeling each other out. And with two very dominant personalities, it's going to be a rollercoaster of fun, and sometimes not so fun! I liked Bud a lot in the whole 5 minutes of screen time he had. I felt like he would have been a nice guy if you were on his side, that's why I put him in the role I have. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with him yet since I really like him but I do want to stick fairly close to the TV show's story line.

Enchantmentanjel: They've released some comics about Negan before the ZA and while I haven't read them, I know in them his wife had cancer and he stuck by her side even while the ZA started and wouldn't leave her until she died. So I feel like there is some sweetness under all that psychopath, for the right girl.

Jamiemorgan113: Thanks for reading! That song is actually really great for Crimson and Negan! I'm a rock girl myself, so I don't listen to rap and r&b, but the lyrics were almost perfect

Celia Azul: And they're going to pay for it soon ;)

HavenMary: Welcome and thanks for reading! I'm glad you like the speed of my development. Enjoy this chapter!

MistahJsKitten: Here's your update :D

Msgemgem: Negan and Crimson are both strong and independent, and Crimson is young and has only had one relationship with someone who is almost the complete opposite of Negan, so she's going to question herself and her actions until she and Negan really figure out their places with each other. Negan can't throw her in a cell, I've actually thought about it. She's a doctor so he can't afford to lose her if she doesn't break. Once he puts her in a cell, everyone knows what's going on and if he doesn't break her, she's got to die. Killing doctors isn't a good plan, especially when nurse Nancy isn't the most competent at her job. Plus he has that whole soft spot for pretty women and kids. Don't worry, they'll make up soon ;)

EmilyAnnMcGarrett-Winchester: Oh you can bet there is going to be some blood shed over this! You'll see that coming soon.

Lalilu10: Thanks for all of your reviews, I'm glad you love it! Enjoy this chapter!

Guest, KEZZ 1, TheGreenKnightOfTheForest, CLTex: Thanks for the reviews, enjoy this chapter!

The pain was sharp, blinding, and nothing like Crimson had ever felt before. Someone had rolled her over onto to her back, she felt her shirt being ripped away from the wound. There were so many faces dancing around her in a dark blur that she couldn't tell who was who. People were yelling, but she couldn't process their words. They were muffled, they sounded like they were underwater. Why would they be underwater? Another shot cut through the air, but for some reason the sound echoed in slow motion. People all around her were yelling. She heard a woman scream. All of the noise and motion was making her stomach turn but she didn't want to throw up. Greg had made her such a nice breakfast, it would be a shame to waste it like that. Someone was touching her face, mumbling her name. Why couldn't someone speak clearly?

Suddenly the pain in her shoulder increased ten fold, someone was dragging her across the pavement. She closed her eyes, her head was spinning. She felt the cold metal of one of the vehicles against her back. When she opened them again, she could clearly see Negan's face hovering in front of her.

"Crimson," He almost sounded panicked and his face was tensed. How strange, he was always so collected and relaxed, even when he was angry. "Hey baby doll, I need you to wake the fuck up and to tell me what to do."

"I thought you were just telling me to shut the hell up and do whatever you said?" Why was her speech so slow and slurred? She didn't remember drinking on the way to the meeting. Wasn't it too early for liquor? Had someone drugged her? "Now you want me to tell you? I guess I'm not the only one who can't make up my mind."

"That's was before you got shot. Now you need to tell me what the fuck I gotta do to help you."

"What? I got shot?" She looked down and sure enough, blood was soaking the front of her shirt and there was a nice hole from a gunshot wound in her shoulder. "So I was." Well now, that explains everything. "I think I might be in shock."

"Yeah, I think you're fucking right. Now you've gotta tell me what to do before you pass out."

"You need to keep me awake and keep me warm. Apply pressure to the wound, and get me to my clinic as fast as possible."

"That I can do. Bud, you're driving so get fucking moving!" She looked up, past Negan, and saw Bud running to the van. Jason was standing behind Negan, taking off his hooded sweatshirt.

"Negan, here," Negan caught the sweatshirt as Jason tossed it to him. "Use that to slow the bleeding."

"Wait," Crimson called out. "Is there an exit wound?" Negan gently pulled her forward to check the back of her shoulder.

"I don't see one. What's that mean?" Negan asked as he pressed the bundled up sweatshirt to her wound. She gasped in pain before she could answer.

"It means the bullet is still in me. Hopefully it's lodged inside the wound. If it's not, then it ricocheted off of bone and bounced around inside me."

"What do we do if that's the case?"

"Nothing. We don't have the equipment to find it, and certainly don't have a qualified surgeon that isn't me to remove it and repair the damage. If it's not in my shoulder then I'm going to bleed out from internal damage."

"The fuck you are! That ain't happening, you're not fucking dying on me."

Bud pulled the van up and Jason was opening the passenger door before it even came to a complete stop. Negan slid one arm under her knees and the other under her arms and lifted her like she weighed nothing.

Even as graceful as he was, and as gentle as he was being, the pain from every jostle was still excruciating. She clenched her jaw to stop herself from crying out and squeezed her eyes shut to keep the tears from spilling over. Negan climbed into the van with her still in his arms, the door slammed shut and Bud punched the gas pedal to the floor. Negan unzipped his jacket then pulled her side against his chest and wrapped it around her. He had one hand still pressing Jason's sweatshirt to the bullet hole and his other held his leather jacket around her body. His soft white t-shirt was warm against her cold, clammy skin.

"Sorry I'm bleeding all over your clothes," she said. "I know how much you love this jacket."

"I don't give two shits about this jacket right now," Negan said. "I need you to hang on until we get you back to the clinic. Besides, I get blood on it all of the damn time and it cleans off just fine. You gotta keep talking to me. What was your favorite thing to do?"

"I used to take a book out to the woods. There was a clearing about a mile away from my house where I could sit up in my boyfriend's tree stand and watch the wildlife while I read."

"Sounds boring as shit. What else?"

She told him about the local dive bar she spent so much time in. She told him about the large animal clinic she had just bought after spending 2 years interning for another doctor. It was only a week away from opening when the world went to shit. She talked about how excited she had been, her dream finally coming to life. Now her life goal was just staying alive, which she wasn't doing a very good job of at the moment. Sometimes she dreamed about how things would be if the dead had stayed dead. She'd be married, spending most of her days in her clinic. Sometimes she dreamed about Negan. Wait, was she still talking out loud? It was hard to tell. She was so tired. Her body had never felt so heavy, like it was sinking into an endless abyss. She couldn't keep her eyes open anymore.

"No, baby doll, you can't close your eyes," she heard Negan say. She felt him shake her, the sharp pain was enough to return her focus. "Bud, radio in, tell them we're a few minutes out and Nancy better have the fucking clinic ready to go when we get there."

She heard Bud do what he was told. It seemed like only seconds later Negan was carrying her into Sanctuary and laying her down on the clinic's exam table. His leather jacket was over her chest, keeping her warm. Negan didn't leave her side and she could also see Bud. Nancy was hovering over her.

"Ms Crimson, I'm gonna knock you out with some chloroform before I get started, but I need to know your blood type first."

"No, no," Crimson spoke slowly so she could speak clearly. "You don't know what you're doing. Give me an IV, a high dose of oxygen, and numb up the area around the entrance wound with bupivacaine."

"Ma'am, you can't be awake when I go digging around that wound."

"You won't be digging around it, I will. And I'm not taking blood from anyone, we don't have any way to test it and filter it in time. I'm not surviving a gun shot just to end up with hepatitis or HIV because you got blood from the wrong person."

"You can't fucking operate on yourself!" Negan said.

"He's right Doc, you gotta trust Nancy and let her take care of it," Bud added.

"Nancy, how many bullets have you removed and stitched up?"

"None ma'am," Nancy answered. "Everyone who's been hit either died or it went all the way through so I just had to stitch it up."

"That entrance wound is in a very lucky place, it missed my heart and my arteries. If that bullet lodged itself like I'm hoping it did, then one wrong move with the forceps and something gets hit, I'll bleed out. I have to do this myself. So get moving Nancy."

It only took Nancy a minute to have the IV in Crimson's arm and an oxygen mask over her face. Nancy lifted the jacket off of her shoulder and Negan pulled the sweatshirt away just long enough for Nancy to administer the injections, then he pressed it back to the wound. At least the bleeding has slowed some, that was usually a good sign. She sat there until she felt awake and alert enough to begin. As she shrugged off Negan's jacket, she noticed Nancy had everything she needed already waiting next to her on a tray. She'd even brought over an LED lamp and had it positioned so that Crimson could see clearly.

Crimson soaked her hands in medical grade hand sanitizer since she didn't trust herself to walk over to the sink. The gloves stuck to her skin as she slipped them on. Once she had the forceps ready to go, she nodded for Negan to take the sweatshirt away and she began.

It didn't take long, the room was so silent the entire time that she could hear a pin drop. The bullet was only lodged a few centimeters into the wound. Crimson clenched her jaw so hard she was afraid she would crack a tooth, but it kept her hand steady and her mind focused. She felt the forceps lock around the bullet on the second try, then she slowly pulled it straight out before dropping both onto the tray. The bullet was intact, no other pieces needed to be extracted. She cleaned the area a second time with iodine before she stitched herself up. The numbing agent had helped, but it wasn't enough to completely rid of her of the deep, throbbing pain.

"Now I need some pain meds to knock me the hell out." Nancy pushed a needle into the IV and Crimson saw the sweet black of nothingness.

For the second time in a row, she woke up to find herself in Negan's bed with no recollection of how she got there.

A/N: Sorry for such short chapter! I'm trying to catch up on work, but I wanted to get something up for you guys and this seemed like a good stopping point. The next stopping point is a ways away and I didn't want to make everyone wait for it. The next chapter is already planned out in my head, just have to get it down on paper (or computer screen, really) and it will be much longer than this. I've also got an idea for a Daryl/OC story I may start once I have my work wrapped up for the year.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N I'm a bit short on time, so my reviewer responses will be short, sorry guys! Welcome new readers, make sure you follow, favorite, and leave a review if you've enjoyed the story so far. Thank you to everyone who followed and favorited since the last chapter!

Msgemgem: There's no way she'd allow a school nurse to remove a bullet, especially from herself! She has made references to Daryl before, when Negan first caught her and wanted to know where she'd learned her survival skills. But, will Negan realize who Daryl is when he finally makes his appearance ;)

Bamby0304: You can't rush the good stuff, but don't worry, they'll get there ;) Bud won't make a move on her, but that's not to say someone else won't be that stupid. I like Bud too much to iron him and scare him away from Crimson. She needs a good friend. And I was a pre-vet biology major before I realized relocating to vet school wasn't feasible. And I worked for a vet for a while, and own a small farm with rescue animals, so I have just enough medical knowledge to get myself into trouble, haha!

Whenthewindblows95: Wow, thank you so much! And thank you for reviewing! It makes me a little sad to see how many hits chapters get and that only a few readers actually review. I love to hear what readers think.

NIGHTSCREAM: Welcome and thanks for reading! Apparently you were reading my mind as I was writing this, which you'll see shortly ;)

Icec: Welcome! Good to hear you had to read it all in one sitting! I'm glad you like my Negan. I hope you keep reading!

Lalilou10, EmilyAnnMcGarrett-Winchester, Charlene Clark, celia azul, CLTex, KEZZ 1, MistahJs Kitten: Thanks for reading and reviewing! I hope you all enjoy the new chapter

Crimson slowly sat up in bed. She had no idea how long she'd been asleep. Nancy must have given her the good stuff. She was light headed and dizzy like she had a hang-over and if she'd dreamt at all, she couldn't remember any of it. When her movement was restricted, she realized her left arm was comfortably but tightly bound in a sling. She'd have to thank Nancy for that later, she hadn't even thought to tell the nurse to give her one. She glanced down to see someone had changed her into a white t-shirt and pair of boxers that were several sizes too large. She brought her good hand up to her forehead to rub her temple in a feeble attempt to relieve the pressure. It didn't take long for her bladder to let her know she needed to make a trip to the bathroom.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed before she heard Negan.

"Woah there baby doll, where the fuck do you think you're going?" She turned to the direction of his voice and saw him standing up from an oversized recliner in the corner of his bedroom. There was a blanket slung across the back of it. She didn't remember seeing it there the day before. Or what she assumed was the day before, she may have slept for a while.

"I need to use the bathroom. How long was I asleep?" she asked.

"About 16 hours. It's 7am. I'll help you."

"I don't need your help. I was shot in the shoulder, not my leg." She went to stand a little too fast and stumbled. Negan's hand gentle caught her arm to steady her.

"You lost a hell of a lot a blood. You won't be walking around by yourself for a few days. You're gonna be staying in the hotel Negan until I know you can take care of yourself. And before you start screaming and slapping me again, I slept in that god damn chair last night instead of my own fucking bed. Talk about some service. Nancy changed you into clean clothes in my office before I brought you in and yes I turned my back while she did."

"Being a gentleman when I'm so weak and needy right now? Isn't this the perfect opportunity to take advantage of me?"

"I don't take advantage of shit when it comes to women. Thought you would have realized what a stand-up guy I am by now. Besides, you look like shit."

Crimson's eyes snapped up to his, her jaw dropped slightly at his insult. "Screw you." She yanked her arm out of his grasp.

"Lighten up, I'm just fucking with you. You're still super hot, even when you're all pale and sickly. You've got that goth chick thing going on right now. Come on, bathroom's over here." He took her arm again and she found that she did actually need him to help her walk. She hadn't seen Negan's bathroom before. It looked like a large storage closet that had been converted, the exposed piping was a dead giveaway. There was a large white marble tiled shower, big enough for at least 4 people that was a few inches off of the floor, probably for the drainage system. It had a bench to sit on, the large rain type shower head hung from the ceiling, and it was missing a shower curtain. There was a toilet, also raised a few inches off of the floor, and a large sink with a cabinet and mirror.

Negan stepped into the bathroom with her.

"What are you doing?"

"Will you fucking relax? I'm just going to walk you over to the toilet then I'll leave." He did exactly as he said, leaving her leaning against the wall next to the toilet, shutting the door behind himself. It only took her a minute to relieve herself. She used the wall to walk herself to the sink and wash her hands, face, and neck. She really needed a shower, but she knew she couldn't manage that on her own yet and she didn't want anyone, not even Nancy, helping her with that. She was drying her face when Negan opened the door, without knocking.

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" she snapped at him.

"It's my fucking bathroom," he answered. "I rushed you back to Sanctuary, provided you with the supplies to pull off some MacGyver shit and operate on yourself, and let you sleep comfortably in my bed, without me. And, not only do I _not_ get the simple fucking thank you I'm due, you're snapping at me like I'm some asshole."

Crimson was quiet for a moment. He was right. He might be crude, but he'd done far more for her than he had to. Far more than what he would have done for anyone else. She was angry at herself and while she may not have been happy with his actions the night before, he didn't deserve to have her self-anger taken out on him.

"I'm sorry. I'm just tired, and in a lot of pain. Thank you. You probably saved my life." Negan helped her back into his bedroom and into bed.

"Yeah, I did. That prick took a second shot when you were on the ground, before I could move you to cover. Tommy took it, right in his head. He was covering me while I covered you." She pulled the thick comforter around her waist and used her good hand to adjust the pillow behind her so she could sit up comfortably.

"What happened? I don't remember much. Did you catch the shooter?"

Negan took a seat on the recliner. "Of course I caught the fucking shooter, and the couple of guys that were with him. Simon found him in one of the buildings, up on the roof. Just some dumb shit who was holing up by the exchange site. He saw the exchange from a few weeks ago and thought he could scare everyone away and make off with my supplies. He took the first shot at you. That damn red hair makes you stand out in a crowd. He took the second shot at Tommy. After that, everyone was behind cover."

"Is he dead?"

"Tommy, yeah. The prick with the rifle? No. I'm gonna make an example out of him, put on a real good show." Negan grinned like just the thought of it was enjoyable. "Lucille ain't the only one calling for blood after he shot our doctor and killed Tommy."

"When is that happening?"

"Once you're feeling better. Everyone needs to be there." A firm knock on the bedroom door ended the conversation. "You better have a damn good excuse for coming into my office and knocking on my bedroom door," Negan growled.

"Just bringing up a meal for you and the Doc," Crimson heard Bud's voice behind the door. "In case she's awake. I left it on your desk." She heard the loud thumps of his boots as he walked away.

"Why didn't he bring it in?"

"I already told you, no one comes into my bedroom."

"Except me?"

"You're something special." Negan walked over to the door. "Let's see if Bud brought us anything good, or if I'm going to hand him his ass on that platter for entering my office without permission."

"Leave him alone, he was just trying to do something nice." Negan paused at her words, and turned around, his hand slipping off of the door handle he'd been ready to turn.

"You sweet on him?" Negan wore his usual smirk, but his eyes were dangerous and his voice was deadly low. "I know you've eaten breakfast with him, you rode in his truck yesterday. After you took that hit, he was already running to get the van before I told him too."

"No!" she exclaimed. "God, no! Nothing like that."

"You sure? I'd bet he's thought about how sweet it'd be between those beautiful thighs of yourself, just like I have."

"Don't be disgusting! I just think he's a very nice man. I had a teacher once, that helped me a lot when I was struggling with social issues in school. Skipping grades as often as most kids skipped school lead to some problems. Bud reminds me a lot of that teacher, that's all. He's been very kind to me."

Negan seemed satisfied with her answer. He brought their breakfast in. Greg had whipped up some cheese omelets and hash browns. Crimson hadn't known how hungry she was until her mouth watered and her stomach growled at the smell. Bud had even brought a small lap tray so she could eat in bed. It was a bit awkward to eat with one arm wrapped so tightly in a sling. Balancing without being able to move both arms was difficult. She couldn't use both the fork and knife provided, so she used her fork to cut the omelet into bite sized pieces. At this moment, she was incredibly thankful it was her left shoulder that took the bullet so she still had full use of her dominant right hand. Learning to be ambidextrous wasn't high on her list of priorities.

Breakfast was wonderful, especially the small glass of ice cold milk. Eggs had been a staple item of her daily breakfasts in life before. Sanctuary had so many luxuries Crimson hadn't even dreamed she'd have again. Hot showers, a comfortable bed locked safely behind layers of security, electricity, medical facilities, clean clothes, an abundance of books, fresh bread, eggs, butter, cheese, milk, and the beginnings of friendship with some of the Saviors and workers.

"I've got shit to do today. Nancy needs to change that bandage and help you get cleaned up. I know there are a few people that would like to say hi, see that you're still alive. I'm gonna help you relocate to the couch in my office. I had it brought in for you. Got a small TV set up out there too so you can put on some movies, read books, whatever."

She gave him a small smile and a nod. He tosses his plate onto her lap tray before he carried it out to his desk. She was already standing when he returned to the bedroom to help her to the couch. He closed the bedroom door after they exited. The couch was an antique style, with light gray upholstery and gilded trim. It didn't look very comfortable, but a pile of pillows and blankets were waiting on the couch for her. The coffee table was pulled up next to it so the TV, DVD player, water glass, bag of potato chips, walkie radio, and stack of books were all within reach of her good arm when she was laying down. She quickly settled in to a comfortable spot, Negan helped her arrange the pillows behind her and covered her with one of the blankets.

"The radio is set to channel 12. Bud, Simon, and me all have a radio on 12. If you need something important, like you tear a stitch, start feeling really sick, someone has a death wish and starts bothering you, anything like that, you radio ASAP, but don't fuck around. Sherry will be coming round for little shit, like refilling your water or getting you a new book. I'll be back in the afternoon to help you to the bathroom. Everyone else already knows this, but no one goes into my fucking bedroom. If you need the bathroom before then, Sherry will help you down the hall. Fat Joey is on guard by the elevator. He's probably stuffing his fat fucking face with a Twinkie, but he'll be keeping an eye on who's coming and going. Normally I'd keep the office door locked but people need to get in and out while you need assistance."

"You have Twinkies here?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Yeah, you want some? I think they're gross as shit but I can get you one."

"Thank you, but no, I don't like them either, just surprised you actually have them," She said quietly. "I'll be back on my feet on a few days, then I'll be out of your hair and won't be inconveniencing everyone."

"You're not inconveniencing anyone. They do what the fuck I say. You forget that I own this place and everyone in it?"

"No," She answered. "You make that minor detail hard to forget."

"What kinda movies you like?" He asked. "I'll have someone bring some up."

"I like fantasy and sci-fi the most."

"Like that Star Trek nerd shit?" He laughed at her.

"Star Trek was TV shows. Star Wars were movies, my favorite ones, actually."

"Never seen 'em, probably because I got a real pair of balls."

"Watch them with me some time, you might like them."

"Doubt that, but you got yourself a date. We can fuck around on the couch while it's on. That'll keep me interested." He grinned at her. When she gave him a look saying she was not pleased, he threw his hands up. "I'm just kidding. Maybe. I'll see you in a few hours. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." He grabbed Lucille, swinging her to rest over his shoulder and swaggered out the door.

Crimson flipped through the stack of movies on the coffee table. Godfather, Rocky, season 1 of Game of Thrones. Nothing caught her eye. The first movie watched after the end of the world should be special, so she grabbed a book instead. He'd left Stephan King's The Stand for her. She knew that would take a few days to get through so she started in on losing herself in a completely different post apocalyptic world.

There was a swift knock on the door before it swung open. Bud's smiling face greeted her as it opened.

"Hey Doc!" he said. "It's good to see you awake. How you feeling?"

"Shoulder hurts like hell, but I'm alive so I'm not complaining." She gave him a reassuring smile. It was nice to see his friendly face after Negan. She was always on edge with Negan. The tension that filled the room with him wasn't there with Bud. She relaxed back into her wall of pillows.

"I'm just here to drop off these." He set a stack of DVDs on the table. A few Star Wars titles and Firefly caught her eye. "And take your plates down to the kitchen. Errand boy isn't usually my duty, but I wanted to say hi. You gave us quiet the scare yesterday."

"Well, now that I know you'll worry, I'll make sure I don't get shot on the next pick up."

"Usually we don't have problems on pickups. Seems you attract some trouble. Might be better for you to stay behind for a while, least till you're all healed up."

She twirled a piece of her hair around her finger and pointed it at Bud. "Red head, remember? Didn't anyone teach you red means danger? I'm nothing but trouble." She laughed.

"You just might be Doc. I see you got a radio. I got this one on 12 in case you need something." He gestured to one of the two radios clipped to his belt. "I'll be round Sanctuary all day today."

"Thanks Bud. You're a good friend."

He gave her a nod before he took the tray and left. She lost herself in the book again, not paying much attention to the time passing. A few people stopped in to say hi, just like Negan had said. Claire, Jerry's wife, was the first. She'd heard Crimson was a reader, so she brought a couple of books. Crimson asked how Jerry was doing, and Claire informed her that it was healing very well, Nancy said he'd be ready to start learning to use crutches soon.

Jason stopped in shortly after Claire left.

"Hey, good to see you up!" he greeted her with a goofy but charming smile.

"Thanks, I'm glad to be up."

"If you promise to stop getting shot so I can get it back soon, I brought my iPod for you to use. Nancy said you'd probably be on bed rest for a couple of days." He set the iPod, complete with a set of headphones, on the table. She wasn't good at just sitting around, so anything that made the time fly by was fine with her.

"Thanks. I'll try to not make a habit out of being someone's target practice." They both laughed.

"We're all hoping to see you back on your feet soon. See you 'round."

It was a while before anyone else came. When her stomach growled, she grabbed the bag of chips and dug in. Sanctuary was already making her weak. Out on her own, her stomach never made a noise. Hunger was just a part of living and her body had adjusted to it. Here, where she had at least 2 full meals a day, her body was expecting nutrition in a timely manner.

There was a soft knock on the door. Crimson called for the person to come in. Nancy stepped in, with Sherry following behind her.

"Afternoon ma'am," Nancy said. "It's time to change your bandage."

"Thank you Nancy," Crimson replied. "Good afternoon Sherry."

"I thought you might need some help with the bandage change. And it's lunch time, so if you need something after this, let me know."

The bandage change didn't take long. Lifting her arm up to get the shirt on and off took longer than the actual bandage change and wound cleaning. So far it was healing nicely, no redness, heat, or swelling. Nancy had brought up a bottle of Amoxicillin, 875mg pills so she only needed to take it twice a day. She'd also brought a small bottle of Vicodin, but Crimson left that alone.

While Nancy was working on her, she inquired about Jerry, if he was doing as well as Claire had said. Crimson wasn't one to let someone else treat her patients, but she didn't have much of a choice at the moment. Once her shirt was back on, she used the last swig of water to swallow the horse pill. Nancy excused herself, letting Crimson know she'd be back at the same time tomorrow for another bandage change. Crimson took the first move to break the awkward silence between herself and Sherry.

"Thanks for your help," Crimson said.

"You're welcome. I'll get you another glass of water. Did you need anything else?"

"No, I had that bag of chips for lunch. I'll be fine until dinner time." Crimson pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, debating her words for a moment before she spoke again. "Look, I can tell you don't really like me. I'm really not trying to step into your territory. As soon as I can get around on my own, I'll be back in my room and Negan will be back in yours."

"He doesn't visit me or the other wives anymore," Sherry answered softly.

"What?"

"He usually visits at least one of us a day. Since you've been here, he went to Amber after that meeting but she said that they barely got started when he left. And nothing since then."

"Oh… I'm sorry?" Crimson wasn't sure if she should be apologizing.

"I don't think you know what you got yourself into. It's not that I don't like you, I'm just not gonna make a friend who's gonna get herself killed real quick. Negan, he doesn't give people personal tours of Sanctuary, he doesn't take people out for a personal run, he doesn't take women to his bed, he doesn't keep watch over someone all night after they get shot, he doesn't spend time getting to know someone. But he's doing all of these things for you and you keep turning him away. Everyone is replaceable to him. You keep doing what you're doing, and you're going to die."

"I don't want to be in this situation. I told you before, I just want to do my job." Sherry shook her head and left without another word, but the sadness and defeat in her eyes spoke loud enough. Both of them had forgotten about the empty water glass that needed to be filled.

Crimson sat in silence for a while, lost in her own thoughts. She knew Sherry was right, eventually Negan would tire of their games and a man like him wouldn't be happy on the losing end. But was she willing to give up her self-respect and her independence to keep herself alive? The world had already gone to hell, could she sell her soul to the devil himself to stay here? She'd fought her entire life to become the woman she was. She'd been set up to fail from the day she was brought into the world by a drug addict with crack in her system. Statistics said she should have ended up working on some street corner hoping her pimp left her enough cash to get a fix, or doing what her mother had done, shack up with a dealer and trade her body for drugs. No, she fought her way to freedom and she wasn't going to hand it over just because it's the easy way out.

The rumbling of trucks roused her from her thoughts. It was strange to hear them all the way up in the 10th floor. She managed to sit up enough to see out of the window. There was a stream of trucks pulling in and disappearing around the side of the building. She looked up at the door as it slammed open and Negan stormed in with a look of irritation, leaving the door open behind himself.

"What's going on?" Crimson asked.

"Monthly meeting with all of my lieutenants. They're all coming in from their outposts. I like to keep everyone on the same page. Sometimes one of those halfwits have a good idea to roll out. With the shit that went down yesterday, I completely fucking forgot it was today."

"Should I leave?"

"No, just stay there. And I know this is hard for you, but keep your mouth shut. You disrespect me in front of them and I'll have to do something I really don't wanna do baby doll."

"Yeah, I got it. I'll be quiet as a mouse."

Negan took his seat behind his desk, setting Lucille on top where everyone could see her. The men and Paula came filing in shortly after. Everyone knelt when they entered until Negan permitted them to stand. Bud took a seat at the other end of the couch, she curled her feet underneath herself to give him room. Simon took the chair, and the other two men were spread out around the office, leaning up against a bookshelf or a wall like Dwight was. One was an older Caucasian man and the other was younger, maybe a few years older than herself, and he appeared to be at least part Asian. He was kind of cute, so she gave him a smile when he looked at her. She recognized Paula and another man, Gavin is what he'd been called on yesterday on the run. He was in charge of the Kingdom pickups.

She felt a little awkward, it was obviously that some of the lieutenants weren't happy with her presence. Bud was the only one who offered her a smile and a nod of acknowledgement. Paula was outright glaring at her, not even attempting to mask her displeasure.

"Paula," Negan spoke. "Looks might not kill, but they sure as shit can get you killed." Paula averted her eyes. "Now what's the status on the satellite station?"

"It's good," she answered. "We picked up a few more AR-15s and almost 10,000 rounds from a small group holed up on a decently secured farm. They had about 3 months' worth of food stocked up we took too so we won't need to restock the kitchen there anytime soon. I've been rotating men in and out of runs, one group out at all times."

"Good work. Jiro?"

"We finished repairing the security fences two weeks ago. We're having some issues with electrical, but we'll be fully operational within a week. The dead have all been cleared out and everything cleaned so we can start taking in supplies as soon as the power it on."

Crimson continued to listen while each man gave his reports. Wade had a run in with a well-armed group and lost some men, but other than that, no one had anything negative to report. Though Wade gave a few nervous glances to Lucille when he told Negan about the run in. Everyone gave Negan rough numbers on supplies including food and ammunition and Simon took notes. While they were speaking about runs and pickups, not one of them said anything about housing their own livestock or harvesting their own food. Apparently long term sustainability wasn't a priority to any of them. Bud has just finished giving them a run down on vehicle operation and fuel stocks when she decided to speak up.

"Excuse me gentleman, and lady," she said nodding to Paula. Negan gave her a pointed look. "But I can't help but to notice that no one has said anything about self-sustainability. Do none of the outposts grow food or manufacture supplies?"

Everyone remained silent until Negan spoke up.

"Didn't I already tell you? My men aren't farmers, they're fighters."

"I'd never expect any of these fine soldiers to do that kind of grunt work," she gestured to the men around the room. "But there are plenty of other people here in Sanctuary that would be perfectly suited for the job. I know you get enough supplies from your… arrangements with other communities. But what happens if they all decide they are no longer happy with your deal? I'm sure you've thought this through before, but from the perspective of a recent outsider, I'd think you would want to be able to sustain the Saviors in the event that the other communities decide to rise up in an all-out war. History shows that's a good possibility, and if you rely on only those under your thumb for supplies, then they don't even need to take the outposts and Sanctuary, all they need to do is to be able to hold their positions until they starve you out."

"The other day you said you might have some ideas to make improvements around here," Negan responded. "Since you're already giving me your un-fucking-solicited opinion, you might ask well share."

"I think you've done an excellent job of getting Sanctuary running, and it sounds like you're in the process of securing more outposts and storage to expand your territory, which is a great strategy. I just think you need to add more to what you have now while you expand. If you have the fencing supplies, it wouldn't be hard to expand the fencing here behind the parking lot." She pointed out to the open space beyond the fence behind the trucks. "One acre, if farmed correctly with fruits and vegetables alone, feeds 4-5 people for an entire year. There are at least 8 acres we can fence back there. If there is unused, secured land around the outposts, it wouldn't be difficult to start farming some of that as well. A couple of dairy cows could give a constant supply of fresh milk and cheese for the best soldiers. One meat cow can feed 6 men for a year and stretch the fruits and vegetables even further. Pigs don't need much space. Neither do chickens and the right breeds product a lot of eggs and good meat when they get too old to lay."

"The little lady has a good point Boss," Simon said, seemingly impressed with her ideas. "We do have some unused space around a couple of the outposts." The other men nodded in agreement. Crimson ignored the icy stare she was receiving from Paula.

"Negan, I just think that you and your men work hard to keep this place going," Crimson continued, flashing them with her best smile. "Putting some of the less useful people to work on your own land could ease up on your need to make so many pickups from the other communities and have you eating like kings every day. You all deserve it."

"Paula, Jiro, Wade, start looking into it at your stations. Dwight, see if expanding out our fencing here is as easy as Crimson says. Report in individually next week. The fucking meeting is adjourned." Negan's eyes never left hers as the men and Paula made their exits. Bud was the last to leave and closed the door behind himself. "I thought I told you to keep your damn mouth shut?"

"You did, but you also said there would be trouble if I was disrespectful. I thought I was incredibly respectful the entire time." Now that the other half of the couch was unoccupied, she stretched her legs back out. She noticed she'd start to lose feeling in one part of her leg or another if she sat too long in the same position. The couch was not designed for long term use and comfort.

Negan leaned back in his chair and grinned. "That you were. Don't think I didn't notice you trying to stroke my ego. As much as I liked that, there's something I'd like you to stroke a hell of a lot more."

Crimson rolled her eyes but laughed. "I don't see some of those guys around much, like Wade, Jiro, and Paula. Do they stay at the outposts?"

"Most of the time. They have their rooms here for when they report in or when I need to recall them for another reason."

Crimson nodded, that made sense. "I only had that bag of chips for lunch. If you're done for the day, maybe you can have an early dinner brought up for us?"

Negan radioed Joey to have dinner brought up. When he walked over to the couch, she went to pull her legs underneath herself again, but his hand stopped her. He gentle lifted her blanket clad legs and set them across his lap after he sat down.

"How's the shoulder feeling?" he asked.

"It hurts," she started to shrug, her usual casual response, but the sharp pain stopped her and she flinched. "The throbbing comes and goes, but I'll live. It's not too bad if I'm not moving around much."

"Didn't Nancy bring you something for the pain?"

"She did, but I'm not a fan of how narcotics make me feel."

"They make you sick?"

"No, they just make me loopy and lack self-control. A dead head could walk in the door and I'd probably think it was funny until it starts gnawing in my face. You know, I was thinking today, you know so much about me now, and I hardly know anything about you, other than the obvious."

"What'd you want to know?"

"What was your life like, before all this?"

He cocked his head at her. "You really want to know my life story?"

"Yes, I do," she looked him in the eye as she spoke. "I want to know you, the man behind the facade."

"Baby doll, if you're hoping to find some knight in shining armor in me, you're looking in the wrong damn place." His hand was absentmindedly running up and down her leg over the blanket, the kind of casual affection she didn't expect from him. "I may put on a show from time to time, but I do it because I fucking love it. I love seeing everyone on their knees when they greet me. I love watching grown men piss their pants because they're so god damn scared of me. I enjoy beating the holy hell out of someone from time to time." He leaned in closer with a grin. His hand came up to stroke her cheek. "But what I love the most, is watching someone's spirit crumble into fucking dust when they realize that I own everything, that I own _them_."

"You don't own me," she spoke softly, like she was stating a fact, not a challenge. "No one ever has, and no one ever will. Not even you." His thumb brushed across her lower lip, her breath was trembling now.

"No, I don't. But maybe I don't want to break you."


	13. Chapter 13

A/N I am so, so sorry for such a huge delay in my updates. Work and life, including my sister having a baby several weeks early, left me with 0 free time to update lately. The next chapter should be up on my regular schedule! Thank you all for your patience! With the new episodes out, there are some AU differences between my TWD world and the show, but I will be following the main plot points of the show, just with some small (and maybe some big) differences based on info that wasn't available when I started this story and Crimson being a major character that obviously requires some changes. Hope you all enjoy! If you love it, share some love with reviews and follow! If I miss anyone on shoutouts, I apologize. There were so many reviews after the chapter 12 update it took me a while to respond to everyone!

Bamby0304: You'll have to keep reading to find out, I'm not giving out any spoilers ;) That's awesome that you rescued a pup! My husband loves spaniels but we've never got one. They're beautiful!

Julia and SnowMiko: I'm going to have some fun writing Daryl's entrance scene. You'll see when the time comes! Your review made me actually laugh out loud, haha!

CLTex: I figured it's time for her to step up and start contributing to Sanctuary. More tension coming soon!

Msgemgem: I have a hard time liking any women that willing joins a harem too. That line just flowed out and when I went back and read it, I laughed and didn't change a thing. I plan on using it on my husband when the occasion rises, haha. Crimson is significantly more nurturing to those she cares about than Negan generally is, but I don't think anyone can have clean hands in TWD world and survive long.

Icec: I think Negan's crudeness is just a part of who he is, no matter who he's talking to and it's one of the reasons I love him, haha. I'm a big fan of foreshadowing, but you'll have to keep reading to see which direction it goes ;)

MistahJ's Kitten: I may have decided, but it'll be a few chapters for everything to play out!

Bunnie.863: Thank you so much! That's so incredible of you to say! I'm not a big Sherry fan either, but we're unfortunately stuck with her for a while. I'm so glad you love Crimson though! And don't worry too much, Crimson isn't a harem type of girl and I love Daryl. I hope you continue to reading, enjoying, and reviewing, I'm looking forward to them!

Simplegirl42: Negan is definitely not Daryl! But I think we all love him in our own, slightly twisted ways haha.

Sometimesdollface: Haha, thanks for the review, it made me laugh, in a good way! And I picked Trixielynn because it was literally the worst name I could think of, glad I got it right! I hope you keep reading, when I have some time and you have it up, I'll check out your fic.

Petrovascurls: Thanks for all the reviews! Glad you liked the smut scene and the rest of the story! Daryl will have a hell of an entrance when the time is right ;) I hope you had a great holiday, and now new years, enjoy this chapter!

Teaup: Thank you so much! I love Negan and believe that while he may have a harem full of women with little pride and self-respect, that he would respect the hell out of a woman with a real pair of balls, and thus Crimson was born. I hope you enjoy the new chapter and review again!

Charlie2193: Sorry you had to wait so long for this chapter, but I hope it's worth the wait!

jlholland1288, solanaek, loveorpain, spiritual-trance, lalilou10, Charlene clark, kezz 1, coreyfiniff, and guests: Thank you for your reviews, sorry you had to wait so long for an update, I hope you all love it!

The week crawled by at an antagonizing, slow pace. Crimson had spent 7 days in Negan's quarters. She spent all day in his office, watching movies, reading books, and occasionally pacing around to see how long it would take to wear a hole in the floor while she stretched her legs. Laying around for too long would make her weak, she hated it. Every morning they ate breakfast together, every night they had dinner, and he continued to sleep in the oversized recliner while she took the bed. Her arm remained immobilized in the sling. Occasionally she'd roll over in her sleep and bump it hard enough that the sharp pain woke her up. Negan was subtle when he'd crack open an eye each time she'd gasp at the pain, but she noticed.

In those 7 days, she still hadn't been able to get those words out of her head, "Maybe I don't want to break you," nor could she forget the look in his eyes when he said it. He was still his usual cocky, crude self, but he was gentle in his own way, helping her to and from the bedroom, and accommodating her every want and need.

By day three she could move around short distances without assistance. She'd attempted to make her way down to the main floor but Mark, who was standing guard on Negan's floor by the elevator, had stopped her. All of the Saviors had been given orders that she wasn't to leave his quarters. Nancy stopped in daily with supplies to change Crimson's bandage and deliver her twice daily antibiotics. Several people were assigned to check in on her during the day, but no one stayed long, except for Bud. He'd stick around for an hour or so, the only thing that kept her sane during the day. Jason had stopped in once to drop off his iPod charger, they talked for a few minutes before he was called away over his radio. He was starting to grow on her too. There were only a handful of people she trusted to watch her back outside of Sanctuary, Bud and Jason were two of them.

She'd actually gained some useful information from Bud. She found out that Sherry had been married to Dwight before the end of the world and she'd agreed to leave him for Negan so that she could be taken care of. Dwight was made a lieutenant shortly after, when he'd proved himself capable and worthy. Amber had been married to Mark and had done the same as Sherry, traded herself and left her husband for a nice, cushy life as one of Negan's wives. Valerie was Negan's newest wife. She'd been brought in from another community. Apparently Negan offered her a place in his harem after he'd bashed her boyfriend's head in with Lucille and took half of their supplies. Crimson couldn't understand how Valerie had accepted such an offer under those conditions, but some women were weak and attracted to power. Power was something Negan had in spades.

She'd also discovered they had already begun to gather the supplies to expand the fencing at Sanctuary and the other outposts. Negan had ordered a supply run to several farming supply stores to gather seeds, fertilizer, and tools. They'd even brought in a man and his family they'd found still living on and defending their own lands. Negan had made some deal for them to live more comfortably at one of the secured outposts in exchange for running the soon to be farm there. It was an easy deal to accept when the alternative was death by Lucille.

Yesterday she seemed to be feeling better, enough so that she was taking her sling off while she was relaxing on the couch. Today she'd started moving and rotating her arm. It was stiff and uncomfortable from the restriction of the sling, but the stitches weren't pulling too much. There was still no swelling and redness was minimal so she was currently clear from infection.

It was nearing the evening when Negan entered his office. Lucille was casually slung over his shoulder, as usual.

"Alright baby doll, time for your first post-getting-shot adventure out of my office," he said. Crimson immediately sat up from her comfortable nest of pillows on the couch.

"What's going on?" she asked him.

"You're moving around more like your old fucking self, and I'm tired of those limp dick pieces of shit that are locked up in a cell using up my air."

"Plants haven't gone extinct, oxygen isn't a limited resource."

"I don't give a fuck, I want 'em dead. So let's go sweetheart, you've got 30 minutes to get ready." Crimson stood up and went to grab her sling. His hand stopped hers. "No sling. You don't show an ounce of weakness in front of those assholes. Or my Saviors. You don't need it anymore." She nodded in acknowledgement before she headed to the bathroom, brushing off the electric sensation she always felt when he touched her.

She quickly changed into a fresh pair of jeans and fitted t-shirt. It didn't take long for her to wash her face, brush her teeth and hair, throw her hair up into a neat ponytail, and strap on the hunting knife and .380 Negan allowed her to keep. There was an assortment of makeup that had been left for her a few days ago, she ignored it. Her boots were the last thing she slipped on. Lacing them up was still difficult with her stiff arm, but she managed. Negan was sitting at his desk, flipping through papers when she was ready. He looked up at her and grinned.

"You're so smoking hot. I'm one lucky fucking man," he said.

"Lucky to be graced with my presence? Yes, and that's the only kind of lucky you're getting with me," she smirked as she answered.

"We'll see," he stood and took her left arm in his right, cradling it carefully in his right almost like the sling would have. Lucille swung loosely in his left hand. "Let's go baby doll, time for the show to begin."

They travelled in comfortable silence to the auditorium, he was gentle as he guided her through Sanctuary, though she was mostly aware of where they were going. She always paid careful attention to her surrounding in case the time came when she'd need to navigate herself through the expansive building alone.

The auditorium was full when they arrived, the Saviors dropped to their knees when Negan made his grand entrance through the doors. Just like the first time she entered the room, Bud, Simon, and Paula were on the stage with three men on their knees in front of them. Negan gestured for her to take the open seat in the front row, but she shook her head. He raised a questioning eyebrow but said nothing as he led her on stage. She slide her arm from his, but stood by his side as he addressed the audience.

"You can stand," he said. He waited a moment for everyone to rise. "These fucks," he pointed Lucille at the three men behind him. Negan was pacing back and forth across the stage. Crimson calmly stood her ground, watching the crowd react to their leader. "Thought they could take our shit. That fucking coward thought he was some kind of fucking genius when he hid like a piece of shit coward behind a sniper rifle and shot _our_ doctor. Do we let shit like that slide?"

There was a loud chorus of "no" "fuck no" and "hell no" from the crowd.

"What do you pricks have to say for yourselves?"

"We're sorry!" the man on the left shouted. "We just needed some food!"

"Food ain't easy to come by these days and you sure as shit make some piss poor decisions on how to get it. So I'm going to going to do you boys a big fucking favor. I'm going to put you out of your misery." Negan was mid swing, Lucille on her way to saying hello to the sniper when Crimson grabbed his arm to stop him.

"What the fuck are you doing?" his voice was deadly quiet.

"That asshole shot _me_ ," she spoke loudly, addressing the crowd. "I believe I should have the pleasure of handling his punishment." The crowd cheered her on, their excitement was obviously. Crimson slid her hunting knife from its sheath strapped to her thigh. Negan looked puzzled, but he shrugged and nodded his approval.

She stepped up to the man on his knees. He was only a few years older than herself, much younger than his companions on either side. But he was far more stoic. They were trembling, he was still. The emptiness behind his eyes said he'd already accepted his fate. She slid the tip of her knife under his chin and tilted it up until his eyes met hers.

"Stand up," she ordered. He briefly hesitated before he did as he was told. He was several inches taller than she was, even with her combat boots giving her an extra inch. He, like his companions, was almost a skeleton. Life since the end of the world hadn't be kind to him. She looked up at him, knife in her right hand resting at her side. "You're not sorry for nearly killing me." It wasn't a question, but he answered anyways.

"No, I just did what I had to, to survive."

"Don't we all?" She moved so quickly, it took Negan a second to realize what she'd done. Her hunting knife was now buried in the man's torso, entered at his stomach and slid upwards, behind his ribs and into his lungs. Her left hand gripped his shirt, holding him in place. The man's eyes widened in surprise. It almost felt satisfying, taking the life of this man who was so willing to take hers after seeing her as an easy target through scope of his rifle. Crimson twisted the knife around once before she pulled it out. He coughed, a small trail of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, then he fell back to his knees when she released him. The auditorium was silent except for the gurgling and choking sounds he made as he drowned in the blood that filled his lungs. Crimson's eyes didn't leave his until his lifeless body hit the floor. The crowd erupted in a roar. Bud stepped forward and cocked the hammer on his revolver.

Crimson shook her head at him. "Don't." She turned to address the crowd. "Let him turn and put him on the fence!" she yelled over them. "Let him be a warning to everyone, _this_ is what happens when you think you can take on the Saviors!" The crowd was deafening as they screamed and cheered her on. She crouched down so she could use the dead man's shirt to clean her knife. After standing and returning it to its sheath, she turned to Negan. He was smiling at her, his eyes wide with excitement. "You and Lucille can have at the other two."

"It'll be my pleasure." He twirled Lucille around before he brought her down for the first strike. Crimson watched as he caved in their skulls, one at a time. She didn't mind the bits of blood, flesh, and bone that were being flung across the stage. Both of those men allowed their companion to put a bullet in her shoulder, and another in the head of a Savior. They deserved exactly what he was giving them, exactly what she'd given their ringleader. It didn't take him long to finish. When he was done, there was nothing left but red mush and two headless bodies. Lucille was dripping blood and bits of flesh onto the stage as he addressed the crowd. "This is what happens to assholes who think they can fuck with me and my people! You're fucking dismissed!" Simon tossed him a rag to clean his blood covered hands, he dropped it on the floor when he was done. The sniper was starting to twitch, he'd be back up and walking in a minute or two. "Take him to the fences, and get this shit cleaned up."

Simon nodded and immediately began issuing orders.

Negan took her right arm and led her through the riotous crowd. She could still hear their cheers through the elevator doors as they closed. Negan's eyes were still wild as he looked down at her. He dropped Lucille and brought both hands up to cup her cheeks.

"God I want to pick you up and fuck you against the elevator wall right now. I've never been so fucking hard in my life." She could hear the arousal in his voice. Between its deep huskiness, his hands, his panting body pressed up against hers, and his eyes losing themselves into her own, she could feel a rush of damp heat into her throbbing core.

"We…" she stumbled over her words, so she placed a hand on his chest and closed her eyes.

"Don't tell me no, not this time. That tight little pussy of yours is begging for my cock, I can smell it."

She couldn't think when he looked at her so wanting, so intensely. "Negan, we can't."

"Say my name like that again and you won't be able to stop me," he pushed into her until her backside was almost crushed against the elevator wall.

"I told you, I can't do this."

"Tell me you don't want me, and I'll stop."

"I do want you, I won't lie, but not like this, not with your _three_ wives wandering around."

"Fuck my wives!"

"That's exactly the problem."

"No, it's not, because I don't fuck them anymore. I have zero god damn interest in fucking them because I can't get you out of my fucking head!"

The elevator jerked to a stop and dinged, signaling their arrival to the 10th floor.

"That doesn't matter to me," she said. "You're still married to three other women." She pushed him away so she could sidestep away from him and rushed out of the elevator. She wasn't sure where she was going when she practically ran passed his office, but she needed space. She heard Negan's fist hit the back of the metal wall, then he yelled at her to stop. When she didn't, he quickly caught up with her, his hand grabbed her arm.

"Will you fucking stop?" he demanded. "You're bleeding."

She looked down and sure enough, he was right. Blood was slowly soaking through the front of her shirt, directly over her wound.

"Come on, I'll help you clean it up." His grip on her arm loosened as he led her through his office and into his bedroom. Crimson knew her mind wasn't clear. She didn't trust herself around Negan when her mind was so clouded. "Sit down and take off your shirt." She cocked her head to glare at him. "Calm the fuck down, I'll be a gentleman. Can't have you bleeding all over the fucking place."

She sighed, but pulled her shirt over her head. She was extremely grateful she'd put on a modest sports bra with straps thin enough that they she could leave the left one slid down her shoulder to clean the wound.

Negan disappeared into the bathroom as she inspected the damage. She could see why it was bleeding, two stitches had pulled through her skin. The rest were still intact, the wound itself was still closed. When he returned from the bathroom, he set an iodine wipe, sterile gauze, and a sterile bandage on the nightstand next to her.

"You keep medical supplies in your bathroom?"

"Not normally, but I had Nurse Nancy bring up some things you might need while you were healing."

"Do you have a pair of small scissors, like manicure scissors?"

"What the fuck would I do with damned manicure scissors? I have some regular ones in my office."

"I'll make due. I need those and a pair of tweezers sanitized in alcohol."

Negan nodded and returned a minute later with the scissors and tweezers still dripping with rubbing alcohol. She took the scissors and snipped both of the torn stiches before she traded him for the tweezers. Her freshly irritated flesh tore more as she pulled the stitches out, but nothing that wouldn't scab over and heal in a few days. She returned the tweezers to his hand, opened the iodine wipe to clean the entire area before drying it with gauze and bandaging it.

"That going to be alright?" Negan asked, nodded his head towards the wound.

"It's fine, the bullet wound is still closed," she answered. "It's not even worth replacing the torn stitches. I'll just have to be more careful."

Negan took a seat next to her, his weight sinking into the bed. He cupped her cheek and softly tilted her face to look up at him.

"Why'd you do it?" he seemed genuinely puzzled as he asked.

"I didn't tear them on purpose, probably happened when I grabbed him with my left hand. And your elevator incident aggravated it more."

"That's not what I meant and you fucking know it. I was going to take care of that asshole and you stopped me. I wanna know why." Crimson averted her eyes and tried to pull away from him. "No," he tilted her back to face him. "Look at me." She steeled herself, straightening her shoulders as she took a deep breath and locked her eyes with his. His thumb was stroking her cheek.

"Didn't you listen to my speech? No one comes after the Saviors and gets away with it. They came after my people, they came after _me_ and I won't have that. So he paid the ultimate price and it was only right that I was the one to collect it."

He grinned as he stood up to grab one of his clean white t-shirts. He signals for her to lift her arms and helped her into his shirt without further irritating her wound.

"So you're a Savior now?"

"Of course I am. I'm still here, aren't I? The people here have been nothing but kind to me. They're smart, they're survivors, and they're fighters. They've accepted me, it's only fair that I accept them and care for them as they have for me. But don't think that means I belong to you like they do." She signaled the end of the conversation when she laid down and pulled the comforter over her shoulders.

She watched him while his back was turned to her. He took off his jacket, leaving him in only his typical white t-shirt and jeans. He'd been sleeping in his jacket in the recliner, Lucille by his side like was he ready to go at a moment's notice. No, she couldn't deny her attraction to him. He was incredibly handsome, intelligent, confident, and the way he looked at her made her go weak in the knees. She hated herself for it, and she hated him for having three wives that made it impossible for her to give in to her desire the way she so badly wanted to. She closed her eyes before he turned around. She was surprised when she felt the bed sink with his weight. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up to look at him.

"What are you doing?" she demanded to know.

"What the fuck does it look like? I'm sleeping in my damned bed," he sounded amused. "That shoulder is healed up enough that I don't have to worry about accidently hurting you now. I'm sure as shit not spending another night getting a fucking kink in my neck sleeping in that fucking chair."

"That's fine, it's time for me to return to my own room anyways."

"Lay the fuck back down. I won't touch you, but you're staying where I can keep an eye on you. You attract too much fucking trouble."

She said nothing as he slide under the covers and stayed on his side of the bed, to her right. It didn't take her long to fall asleep after she let herself relax.

When she woke up in the middle of the night, her head resting on his chest, limbs tangled with his, she had a split second moment of anger before she realized he was still on his side of the bed, no closer to hers than he had been when she fell asleep. She gazed at him for a moment, appreciating the rare sight of his vulnerable, slumbering form. She'd shared a bed with a close male friend in college more than once, she had a habit of falling asleep at his place after a night of cramming. It didn't mean anything, nothing more than sleep ever happened. Never mind that he quickly disappeared from her life after the first time he met Daryl, shortly after they'd become a couple. If Negan could respect her boundaries, they could be friends. There weren't many people she could consider her equal, people she could enjoy a friendship with. She relaxed back into his embrace and returned to sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N So we're about to start catching up with the TV show's timeline and crossing over. I had to make a few changes to things that happened in the show to make everything fit into my story and plot, I hope you all don't mind. I have to apologize for no shout outs this chapter, I'm exhausted but want to get the chapter posted up before I head to bed. I'll get you all in the next chapter, so please keep sharing the love and leave a review! Thank you to all who joined the Crimson family last chapter by reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following! If you're new and loving it, favorite, follow, and leave a review. Review every chapter if your heart desires! Knowing that people are enjoying my story is my inspiration to keep writing, even when I'm about to pass out on my keyboard like I am now.

A knock on Negan's bedroom door roused Crimson from her very deep slumber. The morning sun was pouring through the windows, at least it wasn't an ungodly hour in the early morning. She removed herself from his arms and moved back to her side of the bed despite his grumbling protests. His normally well-groomed hair was sticking out at several angles. Seeing him so mussed up was endearing, it was humanizing.

"What the fuck are you waking me up for?" Negan yelled.

"Sorry Negan," Simon spoke through the closed door. "We have a… unique situation that needs your attention."

"I'll be out in a minute. My fucking breakfast had better be waiting when I get out there!"

"Already is Boss, for you and the lady."

Negan rolled out of bed and headed straight for the bathroom, closing the door behind him. She heard the toilet flush, then the sink run while he brushed his teeth and slicked back his hair. He never left his bedroom until he was neat and presentable. She peaked under her shirt to check her wound while he was busy. Blood hadn't even soaked through the bandage overnight like she'd expected. That was a good sign.

After he was done, she went into the bathroom to relieve herself and brush her teeth and changed out of her uncomfortable jeans into a pair of cotton sleeping shorts with every intention of returning to bed. By the time she was finished, he'd already changed into a fresh t-shirt with his jacket on and Lucille in hand, ready to go. She was going to sit back in bed, leaving the men alone in his office to discuss whatever business was urgent enough to wake Negan. But he stopped her with a nod towards the door, indicating that she should join them. She closed the bedroom door behind her then grabbed a plate full of eggs and a small bowl of oatmeal before taking her seat on the couch. Negan sat at his desk, Lucille rested against it while Simon gave a slight bow then stood in front of him, noticing the oversized shirt she was wearing, obviously Negan's, but he said nothing.

"Now what the fuck was so damn urgent that you had to wake me up?" Negan demanded.

"You wanna talk business in front of the lady?" Simon asked him. "This ain't usual business, Boss, it's personal for you."

"Anything you've got to say to me, you can say in front of her."

Crimson silently ate her breakfast, but cocked an eyebrow at Negan that he pointedly ignored.

"One of the boys caught Amber in a… compromising situation… with Mark. Happened this morning, he brought 'em both straight to me. She said what they'd done, begged me not to tell you, sayin' how sorry she was. I came straight up to you. They're waitin' downstairs in my office with a couple men."

Negan was silent for a minute. His jaw was tense, so tense it was twitching. She could see the fury in his eyes, he was trying hard to not explode. Simon, who was always so calm, was anxiously waiting for Negan's orders. She could see the sweat beads forming on his forehead and he was practically bouncing on his heels. Based on the wild state of his hair, he'd also been roused from bed and rushed straight to his office instead of finishing his usual morning grooming routine.

"20 minutes, then bring them both up here. I'll decide what the fuck to do with them then." Simon nodded and left without another word, closing the office door behind himself.

Crimson waited to see if he would speak first. He didn't.

"What are you going to do?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know, never had a bitch cheat on me before." The bitterness in his tone was subtle, but it was there. "You got any suggestions?"

"Yes," she said like it was already obvious. "Take advantage of the opportunity and get rid of her."

"Opportunity?" Negan questioned.

"Yes, opportunity." She set her empty plate on the table before continuing. "You keep telling me how much you want me, and what do I keep telling you?"

"That I have too many wives." He was grinning at her now.

"Exactly, I consider even one, too many. I don't play games, so I'm not going to beat around the bush. You need to get rid of them, but you use them as a bit of a power symbol so you can't just get rid of all of them at once and you need a great reason when you do, even if you are trading them in for a much better woman." She smirked at him. He was quiet as she made her way towards him, leaning against his desk. "So this is an opportunity. Time to decide what you really want. If you want me, start by getting rid of her."

"I don't enjoy killing women."

"You don't have to kill her. Put her back to the bottom of the food chain, and keep her there. Any idiot can scrub toilets. Or have someone else kill her. Either one works."

"You really want her gone?"

"You know how I feel, I won't keep repeating myself just to stroke your already overinflated ego. What are you going to do about Mark?"

"He's one of my better men, it'd be a pain in my ass to replace him…" Negan trailed off, lost in thought for a moment before he had an idea. She could see the twinkle of excitement in his eye. "I took an iron to a guy's face once after he fell asleep at his post and a dead head got inside, that was fun as shit." He was grinning like a kid in a candy store with an all you can eat pass.

"An iron to his face?" she cocked a questioning eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, an iron, you know, one of those old cloths iron's you gotta heat up over a fire. Melted off half his face, fucking hilarious. Though it smells like shit. Now if I fuck up Mark's face, no one will fuck him. Problem solved." Negan grabbed her by her hips and slid her across the desk until she was trapped between his legs. His thumbs glided under her shirt to caress her bare skin. "You're like my own personal, fuckable, muse."

She smiled, cupped his face in her hand for a moment, and slipped away from him, caressing his check with her finger as she went. "Don't get grabby yet. You still have two more wives that have to go." She was still leaning against the side of his desk when Simon knocked on the door.

Negan yelled for him to come in and a stream of men, with Amber and Mark in between them, all flooded in. Amber's face was bright red, eyes puffy and bloodshot from a great deal of crying this morning. Mark was silently trembling as he stood beside her. Bud pushed the two to their knees before he took a bow. Simon and a few other men she didn't know kept them surrounded as they took a knee.

"So," Negan started. "You two thought you could fuck around behind my back." He came out from behind his desk, pacing in front of them, Lucille in his gloved hand. "I don't recall forcing Amber into anything. In fact, I…" He was cut off abruptly by Amber's cry.

"I'm so sorry Negan! I didn't…"

"SHUT UP!" He roared with such force that even Crimson jumped a little. The tension in the room was so thick, you could slice it with a knife. Negan took a deep breath and pointed Lucille at her, only an inch or two from brushing Amber's nose. Amber was trembling so hard she collapsed to the floor. Crimson could smell the sweat and fear pouring off of her. How depraved was she, that she was enjoying it? Watching Negan strut across the room, confident and commanding fear was intoxicating. Crimson couldn't stand weakness, Amber wasn't worthy of her pity, or her help.

"I didn't say you could open that filthy, cock sucking mouth of yours. Now what was I saying…? Oh yeah, I didn't force you into shit. You married me willingly. If you were no longer happy with your un-fucking-believable arrangement, all you had to do was say so. You could'a gone back to working for points any god damn time you wanted to. Is that what you want, Amber?"

Amber sobbed, propping herself up with her hands, shaking her head fervently, "No, no, I want to be your wife! I'm sorry, I love you, I'm sorry, it won't ever happen again!"

"You're god damn straight it won't." He crouched down and took her jaw in his free hand. "Congratu-fucking-lations sweetcheeks, you're the first women to be able to call herself my ex-wife. You now have 0 points, so I think you'd better get straight to work unless you don't want to eat today. And you enjoy sleeping outside. Beds and food, that shit costs points." He released her jaw as he stood up.

"Negan!" she was sobbing uncontrollably. Her weakness and desperation turned Crimson's stomach. How had someone like that survived so long in this world when better, stronger men and women had not? "No, please, I'll do anything you want!"

"That's great! I want you on your knees…" Amber perked up, apparently on her knees was a position she was comfortable with. "Scrubbing my fucking toliets. Bud, get her out of here. Find a janitor to put her to work. If she doesn't want to work, take her a few miles outside the fences and leave her there."

Bud grabbed her by the arm to drag her out of the office. Amber's eyes were wide with fear as she sobbed. It wasn't until the elevator doors shut that Crimson was finally relieved of the agitating cries. Crimson turned her eyes to Mark, who wasn't able to stop himself from visibly shaking.

Negan turned to Mark. "Amber's little pussy was just too much to resist? I get it, it's a nice pussy, she's your ex-wife, you still love her, blah fucking blah. Now, I know you don't want to leave Sanctuary, right Mark?" Mark shook his head. "Of course you don't want to. Who the fuck would, right? But you know I can't let this shit slide. So we're going to have a little show today. A show two days in a row, what a fucking treat!" Negan grinned. "Simon, I want everyone in the auditorium in two hours. Keep him locked up till then. And get a fire going, I want my iron ready when I get there. Amber gets a front row seat. By herself, not with my wives."

Simon nodded in acknowledgement. Mark was still shaking, tears forming in his eyes as Simon escorted him out, the rest of the men following behind. Apparently he knew what the iron meant and it wasn't going to be pretty. Negan was already seated behind his desk again before the office door closed with a click. Crimson gasped in surprise as Negan snatched her around the waist and pulled her onto his lap.

She hadn't even registered what happened when he buried his face into her neck, grazing her soft flesh with his lips and teeth. He pulled her tightly against his chest, until her knees hit the back of the chair on either side of his hips. She could feel him, large and hard, grinding into her core. And it felt _so_ good, wet heat pooled between her thighs.

"What…" she couldn't finish her thoughts when he was all over her like that, like he was igniting every nerve she had all at once. She grabbed the hair at the back of his head to pull him away from her neck so she could lean away from him. His hands at her waist steadied her, preventing her from falling backwards. "What are you doing?"

"I gave you exactly what you wanted. Thought I'd get myself a nice fucking reward." He ground his hips into hers again, then ran a finger between her legs and she couldn't stop the moan that spilled through her lips. "You know you want it too, baby doll. You're so fucking wet for me that you're soaking through your shorts. I bet you taste as sweet as you fucking smell."

Crimson sat up on her knees, pulling her core away from his, but leveling her chest less than an inch from his face without meaning to.

"You're right," she said. She relaxed her hold on his hair and stroked the back of his neck. "You did exactly what I wanted and you do deserved a reward." She brought her lips down to him, hovering just out of his reach. "But you still have two more wives, and I'm not that kind of girl." Her other hand brushed across his chest. His breath hitched in his throat. "When the last one is gone, you can collect your rewards _any_ way you want. But until then, I'm a free woman and you keep your hands off."

She pulled away so fast he didn't have time to stop her.

"What if I can't wait that fucking long?" he was practically growling at her as she walked back into the bedroom.

"Patience is a virtue. I'm getting dressed, then I need to stop into my clinic before we go to the auditorium."

Twenty minutes later, Crimson was ready to go, in a clean pair of jeans, fitted t-shirt of her own, and hair up in a neat ponytail. It was going to be a messy afternoon, and she didn't want it in her face or getting in the way of her work. She found Negan, sulking in his chair where she'd left him.

"I'm going to the clinic, then grab some lunch before. I'm sure I won't feel much like eating after."

His only answer was snatching Lucille off of his desk and heading towards the elevator. She followed him, and parted ways when they reached the main floor. There was a chorus of greeting as she walked through the halls. She's been a little worried that after her… display… at the last gathering, people may have been frightened of her. It seemed that she's worried for no reason. She considered that many of these people truly worshipped Negan, either because of or in spite of the gruesome thing he'd done. It wasn't so surprising that they would admire her more after she gutted a man on stage.

The clinic was empty. Nancy had released Jerry to go back to his room with his family a few days ago. Everything was neat and clean so Crimson had nothing to complain about. She locked the door before she stripped off her shirt for a bandage change. The torn flesh was irritated, but no signs of infection. She cleaned it with some iodine, dried it, and applied a fresh bandage. The rest of the stitches would be ready to come out in a week or two.

After she slipped her shirt back on, she laid out a few supplies she knew she would need. Sterile bandages, gauze, sterile cotton swaps, and a jar of antibiotic ointment were spread out over the counter. Ideally a bowl of sterile, cold water would be good, but it was impossible to completely sterilize water and keep it sterile after it cooled in their current environment and with the burns she was expecting to treat, no water was better than unsterile water.

She navigated her way back through the halls. The cafeteria wasn't as busy as normal. Perhaps some people didn't want to eat before a display from Negan. Crimson had yet to see a Negan ordered gathering that didn't involve some bloodshed. Cook made up a quick grilled cheese and side of freshly cut fries. The grunt workers had their usual tray of slop. She spotted Bud enjoying his own sandwich, chicken by the looks of it, and took one of the empty seats next to him.

"Afternoon Doc," he greeted her.

"Good afternoon, Bud," she said. "Is it just me, or is it a little quiet in here today?"

"They already announced the meeting, everyone's scrambling to finish up work before it starts. Negan don't like anyone being late."

"That would make sense."

Bud set down the last few bites of his sandwich before he spoke again, "You know Doc, I'm not sure what's goin' on between you and the boss, but you should be careful." He was truly concerned when he looked her in the eye. "You're a hell of a girl and I don't want to see something happen to you."

"Nothing has happened between Negan and I. I know that sleeping in his room is a bit unconventional, but sleep is all that happens."

"Just 'cause something hasn't happened yet doesn't mean something isn't going on. I love Negan, but you sure are growing on me Doc, a lot, and I think you got a lot to bring to Sanctuary, a lot of good you've already done and a lot more you can do. Just be careful."

Crimson smiled at him and threw her arm around his shoulders, resting her head on him for a moment. "Bud, that is so sweet of you to worry. But I promise I'm a big girl and I know what I'm doing. Negan is, well, Negan, but I can handle him." She sat back up to resume eating.

"Alright. Just take care of yourself. Sanctuary needs you," he said as he stood up, his lunch tray now empty. "I'll see you in the auditorium."

When she had about 10 minutes left, she made her way over to the auditorium. She was going to enter with the stream of people, but Jason was standing at the door and stopped her.

"Boss said for you to wait till he gets here," Jason said.

"Alright," she leaned up against the wall next to him to wait.

"So, you and the Boss huh? Are you a wife now?"

Crimson laughed. "No, I'm not a wife. I have higher standards than that. I know it looks like it, but there's nothing going on. Polygamy isn't my thing."

"You sure about that?" he asked.

"Positive."

"Whatever you say, Doc," he smiled at her. There was still something familiar about him, she just couldn't place it. It was like an itch in the back of her brain. "How's that shoulder doing?"

"Good. Might not even leave much of a scar."

"You must be a pretty good doctor if you can stitch yourself up like that and not leave a scar."

"I am," she smiled at him. "But do me a favor and keep yourself out of trouble. I'd rather not have you find out first hand just how good I am. You know, I still feel like I know you from somewhere. Are you from Georgia, originally?"

"No, California actually. Packed up and fled when the outbreak started, it got bad in LA pretty fast. I got out before the military started fencing people in. Georgia's where you're from?"

"Yeah. I worked my way up here over the years, survived as a nomad until Negan found me."

"You've got to be one tough lady to survive out there on your own." He was grinning at her, a mischievous glint in his hazel eyes.

"Tough and smart," Negan's voice interrupted as he turned around the corner, "Now shut the hell up Jay and let's get inside."

Jason bowed his head and murmured, "Yes Boss."

Crimson pulled herself away from the wall and Negan placed his hand on her lower back, guiding her inside. The auditorium fell silent as they entered, the people dropped to their knees. Mark was sitting in a chair on stage, his hands tied behind his back to the chair. Simon was standing behind him. Negan kept his left hand on her lower back, and slammed Lucille against the side of the metal stadium seats as they walked. The sound was menacing, echoing throughout the room. There were two open seats, front row, next to the aisle that Negan guided her to. She took one and Jason took the other.

"Here baby doll," he thrust Lucille into her hand. "Hold on to her for me, just till I'm done." The thud of his boots carried through the silent room when he jumped onto the stage. Didn't he realize there were stairs on either side?

"You know the deal. What's about to happen is gonna be hard to watch." His voice was loud, but soft, like a psychopath pretending he cares. "I don't wanna do it. I wish I could just ignore the rules and let it slide. But I can't!" He paused for a moment. "Why?"

"The rules keep us alive!" The entire auditorium spoke at once. Crimson hated that creepy cult shit. Especially from the men she knew, like Jason. It was worse when he was sitting right next to her, his voice so close to her ear that it stood out from the rest of the crowd.

"That. Is. _Right_." Negan emphasized his words, the underlying anger slipping into his tone. "We survive. We bring security to others, we bring civilization back to this world! We are the Saviors. But we can't do that without rules, rules are what make it _all_ work. I know it's not easy. But there is always work, there is always a cost.

Here!" his deep voice boomed now. "If you try to skirt it, if you try to cut that corner!" He grinned and chuckled to himself. "Then it is the iron for you." He licked his lip as his eyes scanned across the room. "On your feet." He gestured for them all to stand.

He walked over to Simon, patting Mark on the cheek before he grabbed a glove from Simon's hands. He slipped the glove on, Crimson recognized it as the kind welders and metal workers used to protect their hands from burns. She'd used them more than once in labs when she was still in school. "D, bring it in!"

She looked back at the doors to see Dwight carrying an antique iron on the end of a long metal hook. The iron was red hot, glowing in the dim lights of the auditorium. Dwight pointed the iron up towards Negan who crouched down to take it off of the hook with his gloved hand.

"Mark," he turned to the man. "I'm sorry man. You're one of my top guys, but it is what is." Negan smiled at him before he lifted the iron and pressed it into the left side of Mark's face.

His screams pierced through the auditorium. Crimson had heard many men scream over the last 3 years, but never like that. The high pitch of his wails cut through her and she clenched her jaw to stop herself from flinching. Negan pressed the iron further into his face as Mark tried to move away, a task that was impossible when he was tied to the heavy metal chair. The screams didn't last long, it only took 30 seconds before he fainted from the pain. Self-defense mechanisms of the human body were a wonderful thing.

The smell of the burning flesh hit her nose, and Crimson clenched her jaw harder, holding her breath for a moment to keep herself from gagging. It was an awful smell, unlike anything she'd smelled before. She almost regretted eating lunch before she came.

When Negan finally pulled the iron from Mark's face, she could see strings of melted flesh pulling away with it. She felt bad for whoever had to clean that iron. Negan laughed, stomping his foot like an overly excited child.

"Eh, that wasn't so bad now, was it?" It was a rhetorical question, Mark was out cold. Or rather, hot. She smirked at her own twisted thought before she took another breath and the smell made her want to gag again. There was also a hint of urine in the air. Negan hung the iron back on Dwight's hook.

"Jesus, he pissed himself." Negan pointed to Amber. "Clean that up. Doc," he turned to Crimson. "I'm all done. Do your thing." As Crimson climbed onto the stage to assess the wound, Negan continued his speech. "Well, the pussy passed out. But it's settled, we're square, everything is cool. Let Mark's face be a daily reminder to _him_ and to everyone else that the rules, matter. I hope that we all learned something today because I don't ever want to have to do that again." He smiled again. "Who are you?!"

"Negan!" the crowd screamed in perfect unison.

"You're god damn right! Dismissed!"

Crimson was leaning over Mark, inspecting his wound when Negan approached her. "You probably think I'm a lunatic now," he whispered into her ear. "I promise I'm not. Get him taken care of. No pain meds. Come on up to my room when you're done." Then he was gone.

Crimson was untying Mark's hands, carefully avoiding the puddle of urine forming below the chair, when she heard someone else approach. She looked up to find Jason grabbing Mark's shoulder to hold the unconscious man up.

"I'll carry him to the clinic for you," he said. "You shouldn't be lifting anything with that shoulder just yet." She nodded in reply, not trusting her voice enough to speak.

The rope hit the ground and Jason lifted Mark from the chair. He slung Mark's arm over his shoulder, holding it with one hand and grabbing Mark around his ribcage with his right. Mark and Jason were roughly the same size so it wasn't going to be easy for him to carry Mark. The walk to the clinic felt significantly longer at such a slow pace, Mark's feet dragging on the ground as they went.

She pushed the clinic door open and pointed to the exam table. She cleared her throat before speaking. "Lay him there, on his right side please."

"Yes Ma'am," Jason answered, his voice was strained and he was out of breath. He lift Mark onto the table, rolled him onto his side, then he collapsed onto the rolling chair next to the exam table.

Crimson washed her hands before she snapped on a pair of sterile gloves. She set a handful of cotton swabs and the ointment on her rolling tray then pushed it over to the exam table. She went to work carefully applying the ointment to the wound. It was slow work using cotton swabs, but it was the cleanest way to do it and didn't stick to the wound like gauze or a cotton ball would. She needed a thick layer so that she could bandage without it drying out. Jason sat quietly after he caught his breath.

"You don't have to stay," she told him. "He'll be sleeping here tonight."

"He might be a handful after he wakes up. I'll stay till you're done."

Crimson laughed and gestured to the knife strapped to her thigh. "I can handle one man."

"I know you can Doc, but I'm still staying."

"You can call me Crimson. Everyone seems to call me Doc, I'd rather my friends use my name."

Jason smiled, "So we're friends now?"

"Sure we are," Crimson continued to work as she spoke. "You had my back on my first run outside of Sanctuary, let me bleed all over your jacket after I was shot, let me borrow your iPod when I was on bedrest, and you were one of the few people to keep me company on occasion. I'd say that makes us friends."

"I don't know if that's a good thing," he was grinning at her when she glanced up at him. "You seem to attract a lot of trouble."

"Yeah, but it keeps things exciting. And you get the benefit of free medical care." She smiled back at him as she finished wrapping the gauze around Mark's head to hold the bandages in place. "There, done. He'll probably be out until the morning. We're good to go." She tossed the used supplies in the trash, pulled her gloves off with a snap, and put the ointment back on the counter. No use in putting it away when she'd need it tomorrow morning.

Jason tried to use his right hand to push himself out of the chair, but collapsed back on it, a quiet "fuck" muttered under his breath.

"You okay?" Crimson asked.

"It's just a muscle crap," He reached over his shoulder to rub it. Crimson smacked his hand away, exploring his shoulder muscles with her thumb. His back tensed the moment her hand touched him.

"You probably pulled it hauling his ass over here, it's a giant knot. Relax your arm to your side." He didn't relax. "I'm serious, you need to relax it. I'm your damn doctor, you're injured, nothing inappropriate going on here." She pushed her thumb back into the muscle, rubbing with firm pressure. "You're still tense. Take a deep breath and relax." He did as he was instructed and his body slumped a little into the chair when he relaxed. As the knot loosened, she pressed harder, adding her other thumb to ease the tension in his shoulder. It only took a few minutes for the knot to completely disappear. "There, that should be better." She went to the locked medical cabinet that held the more desired medications like opiates and muscle relaxers. Negan had given her a key, she kept it in her pocket along with the currently unused key to her room.

"Do you have a heart condition, or any medical condition I should know about?" she asked as she looked through the cabinet, picking up each bottle to read the label.

"No, healthy as a horse as far as I know," he answered.

She pulled out a bottle of generic Cyclobenzaprine andhanded him two. "That will keep it from getting tense again overnight. But don't take them until you're ready for bed, and lock your door. They'll knock you out for a good 8-10 hours. No alcohol either. If you start having a bad reaction, like trouble breathing or your heart starts racing, get me immediately. Won't be any problem if you have a healthy heart though."

"Sure thing, Doc," he cringed. "Sorry, Crimson."

"I'll forgive you this time. I've got to head up to Negan's office. Can you get Nancy down here to watch him?" She nodded towards Mark then looked at the radio clipped to Jason's belt. "I'd rather he not be alone overnight, just for today, through tomorrow morning. And have her bring a clean pair of pants for him. Those ones don't smell very good right now."

"I'll have someone bring her down. I won't leave till she gets here. Enjoy the rest of your day, Crimson."

She glanced at the clock on the wall on her way out. It was only 3 in the afternoon, but it felt so much later. Watching a man get half of his face melted off, then treating the fresh wound was exhausting. Now that she was more familiar with the halls, it didn't take her long to pass by the auditorium. She stopped to look inside.

Amber was mopping the stage floor. Her body was shaking with sobs and she was clutching the long mop handle like it was holding her up. It probably was. She was also lacking her usual clean, well fitted, stylish clothes. Not that style mattered anymore, but it was a status symbol for Negan's wives. Crimson thought it marked them as the useless, gold digging bimbos they were. But Amber didn't have those symbols anymore. Instead, she was dressed in one of the dirty gray sweat suits that only the lowest of the low wore at Sanctuary. Crimson didn't feel bad, at least Amber was still alive. She made a bad decision and it cost her almost everything. While Crimson thought it was a bit hypocritical that Negan could have multiple wives but they couldn't keep their first husbands, he was a domineering man and Amber knew what she'd agreed too. No, Crimson didn't feel an ounce of remorse towards her.

A few minutes later she found herself about to knock on Negan's office door when she heard voices. She paused her hand to listen.

"She needs the medicine," it was Sherry's voice coming from behind the door. "She's working all day, every day and still only getting a couple doses a week. She needs more or she's gonna die!"

Bud was posted up by the elevator, something he'd only been assigned to recently since Crimson had been holed up in Negan's quarters, and Negan wanted to keep his most trusted men on watch. She looked at him, and lifted her finger to her lips to signal her wish to remain secret. He shrugged and nodded in agreement.

"You know your benefits don't extend to anybody else, even your sister," Negan said. "This isn't a damn charity."

"What else is she supposed to do?"

"Work harder," Negan replied, like it was obvious.

"She can't! She's working as hard as she can already! She's barely sleeping enough and she's weak without insulin! What if I work a couple of shift in the kitchen each week, one shift for one dose?"

"No, my wives don't work. Tina's a big girl, she's not your responsibility."

"What if she marries you then? Amber's gone, you need another wife now," her voice dropped into a come-hither tone that made Crimson want to gag. "Isn't taking two sisters at the same time one of your fantasies?"

"No, it's fucking not. Get off me, I'm trying to work."

"It's Crimson, isn't it? But she said she doesn't want to be a wife," in her desperation, she wasn't wording her thoughts as carefully as she should. "Tina's pretty and she's willing, she'll do everything that uptight redheaded bitch won't. Tina won't turn you down!"

"I'm only going to say this once," his voice was deadly calm, the voice that frightened everyone, Crimson included. "Watch your god damn mouth. Crimson is a contributing member to our growing society and you'll give her the fucking respect she deserves. Now get the fuck out of my office and don't say one more mother fucking word."

Crimson heard Sherry's feet quickly stomping towards the door. She stepped back, so maybe it wouldn't look like she'd been ease-dropping. Sherry wrenched the door open and stormed out, shooting daggers at Crimson with her tear filled eyes. Crimson waited for Sherry to slam her bedroom door before she reached into the office to politely knock on the open door.

"Why the fuck are you knocking? You don't gotta knock, get in here," he told her. "You didn't give him any pain meds, right?"

Crimson closed the door and leaned up against it, propping one foot up. He was sitting on the couch with a small stack of papers in his hands.

"Of course not, you asked me not to," she answered him. "Not that I would have anyways. Third degree burns are actually painless, after the injury occurs. Burns the nerves, nothing left to sense pain. Would have been forth degree if you held that iron on any longer, I could almost see his skull in a few places. Either way, it would be a waste of a limited resource."

"Nothing less than he deserved. Fuck, maybe even more. He's still a god damn soldier with all the food and housing perks. Why the fuck are you standing by the door like you're scared of me. Get over here." He set his papers down and gestured for her. She took a seat next to him on the couch. He took her hand in his, stroking her palm with his thumb. "You're not scared of me now, are you?"

"Of course not. You've seen me slit a man's throat, and gut another one. Getting your hands dirty doesn't frighten me, even if it was a bit more gruesome then I'd choose. And sadistic."

Negan grinned at her. "But it was fucking creative, right?"

"Sure, creative, we'll go with that."

"I've got a few other creative ideas for tonight." Negan pulled her onto his lap and latched onto her throat, caressing and nipping at the sensitive skin, right in the spot he seemed to now know drove her wild. His hands grabbed her ass, pulling her so tightly against him that his hardness was stroking her clit through their layers of clothing. His lips brushed up her neck, ghosting over her jaw until they found her lips and claimed them in a searing kiss. His tongue demanded an entrance so fiercely that she couldn't even think to deny it. His tongue moved in rhythm with his hips, stroking her everywhere at once. God, how could he make her entire body feel like it was on fire? She didn't want him to stop. Stop. No, he had to stop. She couldn't do this with him yet. His hand brushed over her breast, circling her sensitive peak through her shirt with his thumb. Fuck, everything he did felt so _good_. No, not yet, not until every last wife was gone. If she gave into him now then she'd be giving into to him for the rest of her life, however long or short that may be.

"Stop," she whispered breathlessly against his lips. His hips picked up speed and she moaned into his mouth. She pressed her hands against his chest to put some distance between them, but his strong arm held her in place. "Negan," she moaned. "Please, stop." Her begging just seemed to spur him on. She leaned her head away from his and slapped him across the face. It wasn't hard, she couldn't get much momentum with her body pressed so tightly against his, but it had the desired effect. He stopped, his grip loosened enough in his shock that she pulled herself off of him. Her knees were so weak they were shaking as she stood.

"What the _fuck_ was that for?!" he yelled.

"I told you to stop," she responded quietly. "And you didn't."

"The way you were moaning it and rubbing all over me sure didn't fucking seem like you wanted me to stop."

"It doesn't matter how I said it, I said stop. It still means stop."

"I don't know what your god damn problem is. Amber's gone. The way Sherry is bitching and moaning and demanding things, I'll have her gone in a couple of weeks and Valerie will be right behind her. Val's shit in bed, not even worth all the resources she's using up."

"That's great. Then, in a couple of weeks when those two are gone, I'll fuck so hard you'll feel like your cock is going to fall off. Until then, I'm not your woman so keep your damn hands to yourself. How many times do I have to repeat myself?"

"Why the fuck do you have to be so uptight? You're gonna get exactly what you want!"

"Why do you have to be such an overbearing asshole who can't listen when I say keep your hands off of me? Good evening, Negan. I have better things to do then keep having the same circular argument over and over with you." She turned towards the door.

"Where the fuck are you going?"

"Back to my own room where I can sleep in peace."

"Get the fuck back here!" But it was too late, she'd already slammed his office door and was storming towards the elevator.

"You alright?" Bud asked as she practically punched the down call button for the elevator.

"I'm fine, thank you. I'll see you at dinner in the cafeteria?"

"Yeah, I'll see ya there."

Crimson stepped inside before the door had even opened all of the way and hit the button for the 9th floor. She was too tired to take the stairs today. She closed her eyes and leaned against the elevator wall. Things were going so well until today. Why couldn't he just keep his hands to himself for a couple more weeks? How hard was it to understand that she couldn't be with him until Sherry and Valerie were gone too?

How the hell was she going to survive until then?


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: I've only got 30 minutes to proof read and get this chapter posted today, so I'm just going to give a combined shout out to all of my awesome reviewers for the last 2 chapters! If you're reading it and loving it, please follow, favorite, and review (review every chapter if you want, I love to hear from my readers!). For everyone waiting for Daryl, he's coming, I promise. This chapter, as will the next few, really tie in with season 6. Crimson and Negan have a little more time together before everyone's favorite redneck makes his entrance. Sweetlilac, Manic-Mamma, Sexy Vampire Girl, Lalilou10, aishiteru naru, teapup, CLTex, Bamby0304, KEZZ 1, WickedlyMinx, Meeps, OfLoveAndLust, elljayde, Dixon-Vixen13, and Batmanfan22, you guys are amazing, thank you for supporting this story! If any of you are HP fans as well, I have 2 HP stories I'm working on as well. My creative writer's brain is working at 1000% right now.

Crimson laid down for a quick nap before she headed down to the cafeteria for dinner. She rubbed the cloud of sleep from her eyes before she sat up. It took a second for her to realize where she was, back in her own room. She'd probably spent more time in Negan's quarters than she had in her own room since she arrived at Sanctuary. Was it really only a few weeks ago that he'd found her? It felt like a lifetime ago now. So much had happened. The last year of her life, wandering around as a nomad, had been the same, day in and day out. Wake up, eat breakfast, drink a bottle of water, go to the bathroom, gather food, search empty houses and buildings when she came across them, boil water to refill her bottles, kill dead heads she came across, avoid herds, find a place to sleep, eat dinner, drink another water bottle, sleep, repeat. On a rare day, she'd come across a group of living people. She tried her best to avoid them though, it usually didn't end well for them.

Sanctuary always quieted down around dinner time. Electricity wasn't to be wasted, so work in the old factory stopped when the sun began to set. What she didn't expect to find on her way down to the cafeteria was all hell breaking loose. Simon, Bud, and Wade were standing outside the cafeteria. The men were keeping their distance from Negan as he was barking orders at them. Something was seriously wrong.

"What happened?" she rushed over. She may have been angry with Negan, but that wouldn't interfere with her work.

"Dwight, that stupid prick," Negan was on a rant, Lucille was swinging wildly at his side, "decided to take Sherry and Tina and run. And the son of a bitch busted into your clinic and took the entire fucking supply of insulin. Now I gotta send out search parties in the middle of the god damn night!" Negan was fuming mad. She'd never seen him so off of his game. "We got an 8 year old girl here who needs her fucking shot in the morning!"

"I'll help," Crimson offered.

"The fuck you will! It's dark, sun ain't rising for another 8 or 9 hours. If they haven't been found by then, Simon will take a few more men out." Crimson didn't argue with him. She was smarter than that. "Need you to check out Amelia in the morning if dipshit Dwight ain't back with the insulin by then."

"I'll take Tim and some of the other guys out on the bikes," Bud said. "We can make good time with them, don't have to stop and move cars out of the way. We'll try and circle around a head of them, push 'em back towards Sanctuary."

"I'll take my guys straight out into the woods," Wade spoke up. "They'll have left a trail, we take a couple trucks and we'll catch up to them soon. They've only been gone a few hours at most. If Bud cuts 'em off, we'll have 'em in a day or two."

"I don't want to see any of your fucking faces back here until you have them!" Negan gave his final command and stormed back towards the elevator.

"Make sure you all bring plenty of water and food," Crimson looked at all of them. "You might be out there for a couple of days. You won't be any good if you get dehydrated and hungry."

"Yes ma'am," Bud smiled at her. "I bet we'll all be back by tomorrow afternoon. Don't you worry your pretty little head Doc. You're gonna be busy with Dwight when the Boss is done with him. If you're really that worried, grab a radio, channel 27, we'll all be on it."

Crimson gave Bud a tight hug. "It's dark out and you're going to be riding around in a group of obnoxiously loud motorcycles, which provide no protection from a hoard of dead heads. Of course I'm going to worry." She released him, and pointed towards the front of the building. "Even I didn't roam around after dark out there. Go on, but be careful!"

"See ya soon," he said. She'd never been more worried watching someone walk away from her.

When she looked back at the cafeteria, she had lost her desire to eat. Sending men out in the middle of the night… it was reckless. Dwight was probably hoping no one would notice their absence until morning, or if they did, Negan would wait until daybreak to send the search parties out. No, he wouldn't wait, he wouldn't risk letting the three of them gain enough distance that they might actually escape.

Two men were making their way towards Sanctuary's main doors and she saw a radio hanging from each of their belts.

"Hey!" she called to them. They both stopped and turned to face her. "I need one of your radios."

"Sorry ma'am, but we ain't supposed to give them up," one answered.

"You're fence security patrol, right?" They nodded. "And you stay together, right?" Again, they nodded. "Well then, you only need one radio." She plucked the radio off of the belt of the dirty blonde. She thought he looked too confused to stop her, and she was right. She immediately switched it to channel 27 and felt better. She wasn't out there with them, but at least she could listen in and know what was going on.

With no desire to eat, she headed towards her clinic to see the damage that had been done. The insulin was kept in the locked medical refrigerator, the one that, to her knowledge, only she and Negan had a key too. All of the lieutenants had keys to the clinic itself, but not to the medical cabinet. There would be a mess to clean up, and she needed to secure the rest of the medications before the refrigerated narcotics disappeared. Or went bad because no one closed the fridge...

The halls to the clinic were empty. It was getting late and word spread fast of an angry Negan. First Amber and Mark, now Sherry ran off with Dwight and Tina. Crimson wasn't really sure who Tina was, other than what she'd overheard about her being Sherry's sister earlier. She wasn't anyone important. But losing a wife, even if he was already planning to get rid of her, and a lieutenant, it didn't look good for Negan. He was a micro-managing totalitarian. No did anything without his say so. When he caught them, and she knew he would, the punishment would be swift and it would be harsh. Dwight just watched Mark get half of his face burned off, what did he think Negan would do to him for stealing medication and running off with a wife and her sister?

The clinic door was locked, luckily someone had secured it. She pulled out her keys and let herself in. Luckily for her, Nancy had already escorted Mark back to his rooms before Dwight broke in. The room wasn't too bad, the only things amiss were a couple of open drawers with some basic first aid supplies missing and the fridge. It was closed, mostly. The middle, where the lock was, had been bent and the lock snapped. It looked like the work of a crowbar. There was a large gap where the fridge couldn't seal shut. She carefully ran a finger over the seal, which wasn't damaged directly.

There was a small tool box with all of the basics in one of the lower cabinets. She grabbed a hammer and used it to smash the bend in the door until it was mostly flat. It was warped and slightly wavy, but the door sealed enough that the non-narcotics would stay cold until they could go out and get a replacement. She put the hammer back and hunted down a small box. All of the narcotics, and anything else a lieutenant might be tempted to steal for recreational use would have to stay locked in the fridge her in room until then.

The radio cracked, Simon's voice coming through. She froze, listening. "Picked up a trail, headed right where we thought they would. Everyone stick to the plan."

"You got it," Bud's voice shouted over the wind. She let out the breath she didn't even know she'd been holding. They'd been gone… she glanced at the clock… almost 2 hours. Hopefully they'd catch up to them in the morning and have everyone home before nightfall tomorrow.

She took the box back to her room and carefully arranged the medications in her fridge. It would be a pain in the ass to walk back and forth for the medications, especially when Nancy was running the clinic, but she'd have a new one in the clinic soon. If Dwight survived, she was going to make him carry the damned thing into Sanctuary by himself.

The rest of the night crawled by, it felt like an eternity had passed but every time she looked at the clock, it was merely minutes. 15 minutes, 28 minutes, 19 minutes. She just wanted the sun to rise. It was 10 times more dangerous for the men to be out searching in the dark.

She tried to read a book, but when she was still on the same page after 20 minutes, she gave up. She turned on her TV and popped in the first DVD she found. It was Serenity. As much as she loved the movie, she just couldn't pay attention to it. She shut it off, no need to waste the electricity. At 1am, after setting the radio on the nightstand next to her head, she turned off the lights and attempted to sleep. She turned over to her side, but couldn't get comfortable. No, on her back wasn't any better. Neither was on her stomach, the pillow was suffocating her. She cracked open an eye and looked at the clock, 1:12am. It was going to be a long night.

And it was. At some point, Crimson managed to sleep, but it was a uneasy, broken sleep full of tossing and turning. The sunlight filtering through her window woke her up at 7. She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Her arms felt heavy with sleep, or lack thereof. Her entire body felt like she hadn't slept at all. At least it passed some time.

She grabbed clean cloths, her usual jeans and a t-shirt, and headed for the bathroom to shower. She fully intended to set out today and help with the search. It didn't take her long to wash up and shave. She dropped off her dirty clothes in her room, grabbed her gun and knife, and clipped the radio onto her belt before stopping into the cafeteria for a quick breakfast. The cafeteria was unusually empty, but it wasn't surprising considering Negan sent out at least 25 guys last night. There were a few people in line, she smiled politely as she skipped them to the front. They all returned her smile.

"Morin' Doc," cook said brightly. He was definitely a morning person. "What can I get ya?"

"Whatever you can make fast that will fill me up," she answered. "I missed dinner last night."

"Got just the thing for ya! Take a seat and I'll bring it out."

Her usual table was empty, but she sat down at it anyway. She was drumming her fingers on the table when Negan's voice cracked over the radio. She snatched it off her belt and held it up to her ear.

"It's morning roll call assholes," he said, "Where the fuck are all of you?"

"We're about 40 miles out," Bud's voice lifted a heaviness she hadn't even known had settled into her chest. "Parked the bikes this morning and are heading into the woods, pushing back towards Wade and his crew. No sign that they made it to the roads, none of the cars are missing."

"We still got a fresh trail," Wade said next. "Looks like they kept moving all night, but we're gaining on them. They're headed straight for the other guys."

"Keep me fucking posted," Negan demanded.

"Yeah Boss," Bud answered first, follow by Wade's, "Yes, Negan."

She smelled the eggs before the cook set her plate on the table. Steam was still coming off of the mushroom and cheese omelet next to two slices of freshly buttered toast. The orange juice was ice cold.

"That'll fill ya up!" the cook said before he ran back to his station. She was only three bites in when someone plopped themselves down beside her.

"That smells damn amazing!" Jason exclaimed. Jason waived at the cook then pointed to her plate. Cook gave him a thumbs up and disappeared into the kitchen. "None of the cooks make me omelets."

"Everyone loves me, so I'm spoiled," she grinned at him. "I'm surprised you're here, figured you'd be out with Wade."

"Nah, I'm heading out with Simon and some of the guys this afternoon. We're gonna push into the woods from the side, hopefully run into the Dwight and the girls. Negan is pissed, it'll be better for everyone if we find them today."

"Has anyone ever run off on him before?" she casually inquired.

"No, not since I've been here. I heard when he first got this place up and running, a family ran off and they found them 2 days later, turned into walkers but didn't have enough flesh left to move, so they were just stuck to the ground. Probably ran into a herd."

"So Negan doesn't let people leave?"

"I guess they could leave if they want to, but they can't take more than they've earned. And why would they want to?"

"Life for the workers isn't easy," she stated. She was surprised Jason, who she considered one of the more intelligent and observant soldiers, couldn't see why someone would want to get the hell out of sanctuary. "Unless you're a solider, doctor, wife, or worked your way up to a leadership position as a worker, things are rough for them. I ran the numbers on how much work they have to do just to earn enough points for a bed and 2 meals, they works all day and just barely make enough for that, so they work 7 days a week and have nothing to show for it."

"They got plenty to show for it, they're alive, aren't they? Most of these people wouldn't survive on their own. They aren't like you and me, Crimson. The fences and soldiers keep them alive and breathing."

He was interrupted by his own streaming omelet being dropped onto the table by a line cook. His had sausage instead of mushrooms. She wrinkled her nose at the smell of it. He was too busy forking a huge bite into his handsome mouth to notice. She finished up her last piece of toast, washed it down with her orange juice and climbed off of the bench.

"I'm going over the clinic to get some stuff. I want to head out with you and Simon today." He nodded, his mouth too full for a verbal response. She rolled her eyes and laughed at him.

The hallways to the clinic were busy, as usual during the day. She wasn't even halfway there when her arm was tired of waving. Her face was going to hurt from smiling by the time she got there. Everyone she passed said a friendly "hello" and waived. Every single person. She'd never been so popular in her life before.

When she got to the clinic, there was a woman a few years older than herself with a little blond girl waiting outside the locked door.

"Can I help you?" Crimson asked.

"Hi Doctor!" the woman greeted her. "My daughter Amelia is here for her insulin shot."

Of course, Crimson groaned internally. She remembered Negan saying something about a little girl who also needed insulin. The insulin that Dwight had so kindly taken all of. She didn't want to alarm the poor mother, so she welcomed them both and ushered them in after she unlocked the door.

"Alright Amelia, my name is Crimson. I need you to hop up on the exam table so I can take a look at you."

The girl gave her a big, toothy smile and jumped up on the table, swinging her legs as they dangled over the edge. She found her medical chart, they were in alphabetical order based on first names, last names didn't matter much in the apocalypse. She was supposed to be on 4 units of long acting insulin twice a week. Crimson took her vitals, all came back within normal range. She was digging through the medicine bottles, hoping to find an oral alternative, when the clinic door slammed open. She only knew one person that made an entrance like that.

"Negan!" the girl cried, obviously excited to see him.

When Crimson turned around, he was halfway across the room, ruffling the child's hair on his way over to Crimson. He thrust a small bottle towards her.

"This should be what she needs." As soon as Crimson took the cold vial from his hand, he was gone, the door slamming shut behind him. She pinched it between her fingers to read the label. A genic brand long acting insulin. She would ask him where the hell he got it from later. She wasn't about to go chasing him down the hall, accusing him of hiding medications from the only qualified doctor around.

Crimson drew up the 4 units with a fresh syringe, cleaned off her arm, gave her the injection, and sent the ladies on their way. She locked the door behind them so she could pull off her shirt. She'd removed the bandage on her shoulder before she showered. The stitches weren't quite ready to come out yet, they probably needed at least another week, but they limited her mobility and that wouldn't do when she was outside the fences. Keeping them in and ripping them would do more damage than removing them early.

There was only a little blood after she clipped and pulled the remaining stitches out. She slapped on a few butterfly bandages to keep the skin together and covered the whole wound with a thick bandage before she slipped her shirt back over her head.

She cleaned up the mess and noted Amelia's vitals and medication before she left. She debated returning to her own rooms, or going to Negan to find out what was going on. She'd punched the button for the 10th floor, sealing her decision. A very smug looking Valerie was leaving Negan's office when she arrived.

Crimson pushed open the door to find an exhausted looking Negan pouring over an open map on his desk.

"What the fuck do…" he yelled as he looked up at her. "Oh, it's you," his voice lowered. "What the fuck do you want?"

"Where'd it come from?" she demanded, her arms crossed across her chest, signaling her displeasure with him.

"What in the fuck is wrong with all of you women today? Pussy isn't supposed to be such a pain in my ass. Where the fuck did what come from?"

"The insulin, you know, the stuff that Dwight took all of so we shouldn't have had any."

"One of the communities we pick up from has a doctor, we let them keep some of their meds. I sent Simon over to get it in case we didn't catch the dipshits in time. Looks like I made the right fucking call too. That bottle should last her a while, right?"

"Yes, a couple of months at least. Plenty of time to scavenge more for Amelia if the ones they took get lost or broken. Why does she get the insulin? Her parents aren't anyone important and an 8 year old girl can hardly work hard enough to earn the points needed for it. I didn't even see a point tally for the insulin she's used in her chart."

"She's a god damn kid," Negan slammed his fist into the desk. "What do you think I am, a fucking monster? I ain't charging her points for something she'd die without. When she's old enough, she'll have to earn it, till then, just give her what she needs."

"You don't need to speak to me like that," Crimson stormed over to his desk and slammed her open palms into his desk, leaning towards him. If he wasn't so tall, she'd have been towered over him. Instead, she came eye to eye with him. "I just asked you a question. I get that you have a lot of bad shit happening all at once, but don't take that out on me. Get yourself together before people start to see you coming unraveled. You told me to look strong in front of them, maybe you should take your own advice."

Negan sighed, resting his hand into his hands. "Just get out of here."

"Fine, I will. I'm going out with Simon's crew," she informed him.

"You know what, I don't have the damned energy to fight you. Don't get yourself killed." Crimson had already slammed his office door before the last word was out of his mouth.

Crimson sat in the front passenger seat of the second truck, bobbing her head to the music. Jason was driving, there were two other guys in the back. Ryan was a big guy, the kind that spent all of his time bulking up at the gym, like muscle mass would make up for his missing IQ points. At least he was quiet. Craig, on the other hand, was a talker. So much so, that no one else got in a word. He was a little pudgy, which was surprising since his mouth never shut. How he hadn't talked all of his weight off, she didn't know. But she understood why he didn't ride in Simon's truck. Simon would have put a bullet in his skull 10 minutes ago. Crimson just turned up the music loud enough that the only person that could hear him was himself. Much better.

It was late afternoon when Simon signaled the stop. They were halfway between Bud's men pushing in from the South and Wade's pushing in from the North. They would be pushing East. Negan had ordered them to return to Sanctuary before dark, so they had two hours to move in on foot, two hours to get back to the trucks, and an hour drive back.

She'd grabbed a machete and a backpack for a couple bottles of water, a day's worth of food, and a first aid kit before they left. Negan still wouldn't return her precious bow. Maybe he thought she'd come back as long as he kept it locked up? She left her normal pack in favor of a single strap one that wouldn't touch her bad shoulder. She slung it over her good shoulder as she exited the truck. Everyone gathered around Simon for instructions. It was simple, fan out, keep ten feet from each other, watch where you were going, and kill any dead guys you come across.

It was nice to stretch her legs again, and tune her brain back into working survival mode. She listened for every snapping branch, every rustle of leaves, for the telltale gurgling moan of a dead head. A pair of finches zoomed away above her head, always a good sign that no herd was in the area. She really hated being cooped up inside the Sanctuary fences. She needed this, being out where should could put her survival skills to use. She spent three years honing them to perfection, too much time to let them waste away inside the perceived safety of the fences.

Two hours and 9 now really dead dead heads later, they'd found nothing. No signs of Dwight, Sherry, or Tina anywhere. The only fun to be had was the contest she and Jason, who was to her right, had started. She was up by 1, 9 dead heads fell to her machete versus 8 to his buck knife. Simon signaled everyone back to the trucks. With the path clear, they made it back to the trucks in an hour and a half.

Crimson cranked up the music before Craig could get a signal word in. She was not pleased that the other groups, Bud included, would be out another night. Both groups were checking in every two hours. The trucks were rumbling down the road when she picked up her radio, turned down the music, and punched the talk button.

"Hey Simon," she called out over the radio.

"Yes Ma'am," she heard him answer.

"I want to head out earlier tomorrow. I'd like to get those three asshole caught so all of our boys can come home. Can we be on the road by 9?"

"Aw, Doc, you worried about us?" Bud's laughter carried through the crackling speaker.

"Of course I am," she state. "The longer you boys are out there, the more scratches and poison Ivy I have to patch up. So it's really my own self-serving interests I'm looking out for."

"Whatever you say Doc," Simon finally responded.

Tomorrow night. By tomorrow night, Bud, Wade, and the rest of the men would be back home, safely. 24 more hours is all they needed to last.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: We're starting to really tie into the show now! I hope you all enjoy! If you are, share some love and follow, favorite, and review

CLTex: We'll be seeing more too!

KEZZ 1: Hope you enjoy this one too!

Raging Raven: Thank you! I hope you continue to love it.

Enchantmentanjel: I hope your move went smooth! Glad to see you caught up. We're getting closer and closer to our favorite redneck

Lalilou10: Thanks!

Msgemgem: I'm so glad to see you back! I was a little worried when I hadn't seen a review from you in a while!

: Thank you! It's great to know my story is binge worthy I hope you keep reading and enjoying!

The morning came far too quickly for Crimson's liking. The sun was shining through her window, waking her at the break of dawn. It took hours of tossing and turning before she finally fell into a light sleep. Who really needs sleep anyway? She didn't. At least, she didn't need much to still function and fight at a hundred percent. Her radio had been silent most of the night.

Her morning routine was quicker than usual. She was showered, dressed, teeth and hair brushed, and was down in the cafeteria in less than 20 minutes. It was nearly empty at such an early hour. She finished her eggs and toast quickly and debated what to do. She could go to the clinic and waste time until her team was ready to head out again. Or, she could suck it up and go to Negan's office, hope he was up, and see if he knew more than was said over the main channel. She chewed on her bottom lip for a minute, then decided on the latter. She needed an update.

Joey, or Fay Joey since there were two of them, was posted by the elevator on Negan's floor. He gave her a nod when she walked out. She didn't like him much. Lately she could feel him leering at her backside when she walked away from him.

She knocked rather forcefully on Negan's office door. He grumbled a loud "what the fuck do you want?" before she entered.

"I came to see if you'd heard anything new," she said. "There wasn't much said over the main channel last night or this morning."

He looked up at her from his desk. He appeared to be as exhausted as she felt. His hair, usually slicked back so clean and neatly, was messy. He'd been running his hand through it absentmindedly all night. His beard hadn't been cleaned up. The dark circles under his brown eyes and the stress lines looked so unnatural on his handsome face. It was like seeing a glimpse of the real man underneath the mask of a monster he wore so well. A different side of the man she'd started to see while he cared for her after she'd been shot.

"Wade said they were closing in, should be on them in no time."

"That's good." Seeing him like that was hard. It put a tightness in her chest that few people could. She suddenly realized that she missed his company, the comfort his presence gave her. She missed his crude humor, witty remarks, and intelligent conversations she couldn't have with anyone else. She missed the way he smiled at her. She missed… him, all of him.

"Look, Negan," she started, "I just want to say," but she was cut off abruptly by the radio.

"We got an emergency!" it took her a moment to recognize the voice. Wade. It was echoing between the radio on her hip and the one on the desk so she turned hers down. "Cam got bit, I got his arm off but he's bleedin' real bad and we can't get it to stop."

Negan picked the radio up. "Get him straight to the clinic, Crimson will be there waiting. How far out are you?"

"Less than an hour if we floor it and make a straight shot."

Negan threw the radio so hard it bounced off the desk and skidded across the floor. He rubbed his furrowed brow.

"It'll be fine," she said softly. She walked over his desk, closing her hands around his to pull them away from his face. "I'll take care of Cam. Everything will be fine. Bud and his crew are still out there, he'll find them." She stroked his face with one hand. He relaxed into her touch and closed his tired eyes with a deep sigh. His hands wrapped gently around her wrists. "Once we've got them, you and Lucille can have your fun and this will be over. Next week we'll be laughing about it."

"I can't believe what a fuck up this shit is turning into. What the fuck was Dwight thinking? Get down to the clinic so you can work your magic. I'll find out where Bud's guys are. Dwight and the girls will be dealt with today. Even if that means burning the fucking forest down around them."

"Negan, you can't," 'burn down an entire forest to get three people' is what she was going to say, but he braced her jaw in his hand, pulling her for a kiss. It was soft, over so quickly she wasn't sure it happened.

"I can do whatever the fuck I want to baby doll. Now go, I'll come down and see what the fuck happened when they get here."

She nodded, stroking his cheek one last time with her thumb before she pushed off of his desk.

It was a quick walk to the clinic. Nancy was already waiting for her. She washed up, set out everything she would need, washed up again, snapped on a pair of gloves and sat down to wait.

She felt terrible. Negan looked almost… vulnerable. And she knew their fight wasn't helping anything. She was stubborn and so was he, but she would talk to him tonight after things settled down. She wouldn't apologize for the fight, he was as much to blame as she was. Maybe more so since he just didn't understand that he has to keep his hands, and delicious lips, and everything else to himself until all his wives were dismissed.

The wait wasn't long, Negan waltzed through the door a few minutes later. He'd showered and cleaned up before he came down. She could smell the woodsy scent of his soap from his still damp skin. His hair was shiny and slicked back, every strand in its usual orderly place and his salt and pepper beard had been trimmed up. Negan was back in full force, cocky smile included. Nancy knelt down before he told her to wait in the hall and close the 'fucking' door behind her.

"They'll be here any minute," he said. "Wanted to let you know Wade had the three assholes before they ran and Cam got bit. The other guys will have 'em in no time."

"Good. Go do what you need to do, I'll take care of everything here."

He grinned at her, that arrogant, charming grin, the one that said all of the things he was thinking about doing to her that made her a little weak in the knees. "Go? Fuck no, I love watching you work. You got no problem getting dirty. And you get the cutest fucking intense look when you're really concentrating and you start biting on your lip. I bet you'll do the same thing when I make you come."

Crimson felt her cheeks heat up, just a little, before she laughed. It wasn't easy to embarrass her, but the more she wanted him, the more his words affected her.

"You shut that filthy mouth, I need to stay focused," she told him, shaking her head with a smile.

"You could always come over here and shut it for me."

She held up her gloved hands, "I'm already scrubbed in for surgery."

"Later then?" It was so hard to resist him when he smiled at her like that, leaning against the counter with Lucille slung across his leather clad shoulders, the thumb of his free hand hooked in the pocket of his well fitted jeans. That jacket looked so good on him.

"Mm, no, not as long as Valerie is still around. I have a reputation to uphold."

"She ain't gonna be around much longer baby doll."

"Good. And as soon as she isn't, I'll put that filthy mouth of yours to good use."

He didn't have time for a retort. The door opened and a full crew of sweaty, dirt covered men came through the door. Nancy followed them in. Wade had what was now Cam's only arm slung around his shoulder.

"Everyone out!" Crimson called out after Wade helped Cam onto the exam table. He was pale but alert, there was a tourniquet on his upper arm, the only part of his left arm that remained. It had been severed right at the elbow. It was crude, took a few hits with an ax or a machete, but was it was clean enough. No sharp bone fragments that she could see.

Negan slapped the poor man on the shoulder.

"Cam, Cam, Cam, what the fuck did you go and get yourself bit for? I thought you were smarter than that."

"Suh, suh, sorry, Negan, sir," Cam half stuttered and half slurred out.

"Ah, don't be sorry! Shit happens, I get it. Just be more careful next time." He leaned over a little, just enough to look Cam straight in the eye, invading his personal space the way Negan loved to do. It made people so nervous. "I don't really have any use for a guy missing both his fucking arms." He laughed to himself, like he usually did when he thought of something funny. "But it would be funny as shit watching you run around waving two gross ass nubs everywhere." The other guys laughed too. He turned back to them. "You heard the lady, get the fuck out. Go do something useful, I don't keep you around so I can watch you play with your dicks."

Wade and the rest of the men filed out as quickly as they filed in. Only they left a trail of muddy boot prints all over her pristine floor. So much for a sanitary room. Not that it mattered too much. Cam's arm was hacked off in the middle of a forest with a dirty weapon, nothing sanitary about that.

Negan stood watch while she worked. Nancy helped her get Cam out of his long sleeved flannel shirt and laid him back on the table. She gave him a shot of morphine that hit him quick. His eyes were open but they weren't processing anything that was happening to, or around him. She quickly numbed the area and went to work debriding the wound. The dirt was minimal, but some of the damaged muscle needed to be cut away. She was carefully removing the dead tissue.

"Man, that is fucking dis-gust-ing Doc, but I just can't look away," Negan said. His black leather clad finger pointed at the wound with a circling motion. "It's all pink and red and you can even see the bone! Can I touch it?" The look she gave him said that he most certainly could not. "Come on," he clapped his hands together. "I'll even wash my hands and put on a rubber glove."

"No," she told him. "If you keep distracting me, I will kick you out of this room. And the gloves are latex, not rubber."

"Fine, I'll be quiet. I'll go sit down like a good little boy. Will I get a reward later? I can think of a few things I'd like from you." He wagged his eyebrows like she didn't get what he was suggesting.

She glared at him one last time, then went back to work. She washed the wound out with iodine after debriding, pinched off the major blood vessels, shaped and stretched the skin, and stitched it closed. Cam was an excellent patient, quiet and still. The shot of morphine may have had something to do with it. He was lucky, Wade got him home in enough time that the tourniquet did damage what was left of his arm. The hour she worked went by quickly. She was just tying off the final stitch when Bud's voice came over the radio.

"We got a truck coming down the road. We're gonna say hello and introduce ourselves."

"Let me know who your new friends are after you say hi," Negan answered.

She washed the closed wound and wrapped it.

"Nancy," she called for the nurse. "We'll start him with penicillin since we have so much of it. Watch it close, any signs of infection and I'll switch him to something else. If you notice any puss, take a sample and start a culture." She pulled off her gloves and tossed them in the trash. "And clean up please. I'll check back in this evening. I gave him a pretty big dose of morphine, let him pass out and don't give him anymore until I get back."

Negan was waiting by the door for her. Lucille was hanging by his side and he offered her his free arm. She took it, slipping her left arm through his and her right hand wrapped around his bicep. It just felt… right. She was almost getting used to watching everyone kneel as they walked by. It was still strange, but if he wanted to be worshipped like a God when he provided all of these people with a safe place to sleep, food to eat, and water to drink, she wasn't going to say anything about it anymore. He was an egomaniac, and he displayed most of the twenty behaviors on Hare's Psychopathy checklist, but he took care his people as long as they remained loyal to him. She'd met some psychopaths out there who lived without rules, without an ounce of morality. He wasn't one of those and there wasn't much more you could ask of a man of power in a post-apocalyptic world.

"Do you think we should send Simon's crew back out?" She asked him. "They could pick back up where Wade was. I can go back out with them, Bud might be busy with that truck."

"I keep noticing you saying we. I'm the one that calls the shots around here baby doll."

"Yes, you do. But I think _we've_ made a pretty good team lately. The fence expansion here is going well. I've heard the agricultural efforts at the outposts are doing even better. That gave some of the workers who needed more points an opportunity to earn more. When the crops start coming in, it will give everyone a chance to eat fresh foods." Her thumb was drawing circles on his bicep. "Happy workers don't revolt. And don't forget, we put on a great show with the guy that shot me and his friends. Who doesn't love good entertainment? Plus, you did say something about me being your muse the other day."

"Those are some very valid fucking points. You know where else we'd make a good team?"

"Hm?"

"In bed," he grinned at her. He really did amuse himself.

"Do you ever stop?"

"I might." He leaned over to whisper in her ear as they walked. "After I make you hoarse from screaming my name all night. But if that tight little pussy of yours tastes as sweet as I think it will, I'm not ever going to stop."

A short dark haired man, she recognized him from Simon's crew but didn't know his name, burst around the corner and nearly ran straight into them.

"Woah, woah, slow the fuck down," Negan told him. "It's rude as hell to go around running into people. Didn't someone teach you fucking manners?"

He quickly dropped to one knee. He was out of breath, sucking wind from running so fast. "Sorry sir! But you need to come to the front gate now. Dwight and Sherry are back."

"Well now, that's a pleasant surprise. Tina?"

"No," he said. "She's not with them."

"Get Simon," Negan ordered.

"He's already out there, sir."

"Then you're dismissed."

"Thank you, sir." He stood up and scampered off like a frightened dog.

Negan twirled Lucille around like a baton. "Let's go see what brought our Dwighty-boy and my ex-wife home."

She kept both of her hands on his arm until they reached the front doors. Dwight and Sherry were already waiting on their knees, Skinny Joey and another guy were standing on either side of them. They were dirty, bloodied, scratched up, but in otherwise fine condition considering they'd been chased through the woods for an entire day. Sherry's eyes were puffy and red from crying. Dwight, he just looked completely and utterly broken.

"Well, well," Negan greeted them. He removed his arm from her grasp, but his leather clad hand brushed down her back before he stepped closer to the two traitors on the ground. Lucille swung back and forth between the two. Her fresh barbed wire glinted in the afternoon sunlight. "It looks like Christmas came early for me! But, seems Santa shorted me a present. Why didn't that jolly fat fucker bring me Tina too? "

Sherry's only response was to cry. She sobbed so hard she fell forward, onto the floor, her face clasped in her hands. Dwight's jaw twitched, like he wanted to respond but couldn't pull himself together enough to get the words out. Neither one of them looked at Negan.

"I asked a fucking question and I expect a god damn response. What the fuck do I need to do to get a little respect around here? Where the fuck is Tina?"

"She…" Dwight said.

"She fucking what? I don't have all damn day. In fact, shit is running behind schedule because you assholes stole from me and ran off in the middle of the night. So if the next words out of your god damn mouth aren't an answer to the very simple question I just asked, well then," he smiled. "Lucille will be asking the next one."

"Shegotbit!" Dwight spit out so quick it was one jumbled word.

"What?"

"She got bit. In the neck."

Negan laughed, leaning on Lucille like she was a cane. "Well ain't that fucking ironic! You and my ex-wife take off with her and my meds because you thought you were saving her life, and all you did was get her killed." He chuckled. "I bet that made you feel like absolute shit."

"We're sorry Negan," Sherry finally spoke up. When she looked up at him, her eyes were so puffed up Crimson wasn't sure how she could even see anything. "We were just trying to help her, she was so sick lately. But we came back. I told him we had to. This won't happen again."

"It sure as shit won't." He crouched down in front of her. His 6'2 frame was still imposing, leaning over her on the ground. His gloved hand slipped under her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye. He smirked at her, the one that came with the dangerous, unpredictable glint in his eye. "You are back to being number 28. Numbers don't have free run of Sanctuary. They don't get the opportunity to steal my shit and run."

"I'm sorry, I'll do anything you want! Please don't send me back down there!"

"Good, then you'll go back with the labor crew, digging ditches, without complaint." He stood back up, rolling his shoulders back so that he stood tall and proud. "You know Dwight, I just don't get it. You had it good here. You were one of my top guys, got everything you wanted. But you still ran off. Why? Sherry's pussy wasn't that great, not even in my top ten amazing fucks list."

"I'm sorry," is all Dwight responded with. He didn't give some long winded apology and excuse like Sherry did. Dwight was smarter than that. Begging only got Negan more riled up, more excited.

"Oh you will be. Tomorrow, you get the iron." He gestured to the two guards on either side of them. "Get them out of here, they can spend the night in a cell. Separately." Sherry's cries echoed down the hall as she was dragged away. Dwight stood up and walked. At least he attempted to maintain some measure of dignity.

Negan flung his arm around Crimson's shoulder, pulling her tightly into his side. They were alone in the front entrance now, and she could feel his muscles twitching in anticipation. "Another one gets the iron, and so soon after the last! It's bad that I'm kind of really fucking excited about it, isn't it?"

She turned to face him, his right arm was still draped across her shoulder. "You're sick, you know that?" she told him with half of a smile. It wasn't an accusation or an insult. It was a fact.

"I know." He leaned his head down to her. His lips brushed over her ear, the effect was instantaneous, heart beating faster as the shiver went down her spine. He leaned Lucille against the wall and wrapped his now free arm around her waist, pulling her flush against him. His manhood was hard, pressing into her stomach. "I got hard just thinking about it. But you like it, don't you?" His voice was low and husky, his lips brushing her ear with every word. "You like how twisted I am. I know you do. Because you're like me. I saw it when you gutted that asshole on stage, it made your panties wet. Just like I'm doing right now." His hand slipped up the back of her shirt, drawing circles that were setting her skin on fire. He was right, the damp heat was pooling between her legs. Her knees were so weak she wasn't sure if she could stand if he let her go. "Come on, baby doll, admit it, you like seeing weak assholes on their knees in front of you." His lips trailed over her jaw, his breath warmed her cheek. "Tell me how much you like it." His lips brushed against hers.

Her hands gripped his jacket on either side of his hips to stop them from trembling. "I do love to watch you work."

"Mm, fuck yeah you do."

"Negan," the radio crackled. He tossed his head back and groaned before he released her from his grip and grabbed his radio.

"What?"

"We have a… problem… sir. Out on Country road 35. Think you need to see this for yourself."

"Fine. Simon, meet me out front in five fucking minutes. Anyone else got any more bad fucking shit I need to know about?" His only answer was radio silence.

"I'm coming with you." He looked as if he was about to tell her 'fuck no, you're staying here where it's safe.' "If anyone's hurt, you'll need me there." She reached up to touch his cheek. "I'll put together a travel kit and meet you by the trucks."

Ten minutes later, she was sitting in the front of the truck, on Negan's lap since that was the only available seat, and Sanctuary's gates were closing behind them. It was Simon's single cab truck and he was driving. There were two box trucks in front of them with the rest of Simon's men. It was tense in the truck, the quiet tension of three people on their way to find some very bad news. She rolled the window down to get some fresh air. She hung one arm out of the window and her fingers were tapping on the door. The arm Negan had around her waist squeezed her a little tighter.

She was out of the truck before it came to a full stop and ran to the head of the trucks. Her hand was on her .380, sitting on her hip. Negan had it brought down while she'd been packing up her kit.

There really wasn't anything that could have prepared her for the blackened carnage that greeted her around the front of the caravan. She stopped when the smell hit her nose, both arms falling to her side as she observed. The bitter, tangy smell of explosives and gasoline filled the air, with a trace of something else underneath it. The first thing that stood out to her was the deep hole in the middle of the road. The asphalt was melted, twisted and warped like the mouth of a monster. She could still feel some residual heat from the explosion. There were bikes surrounding the hole. Two were still standing, facing away from her, the paint burned, some charred substance stuck to the metal but otherwise unscathed. The other five were on their sides, a couple were blown up beyond recognition. Her eye fell on the lead bike, the furthest from her. Bud's.

It was laying on its right side. She realized the charred substance stuck to all of the bikes was flesh, human flesh. On this bike, it was Bud's flesh. There was part of a lower leg standing up against the burnt metal. It still had a black boot on, Bud's boot. Bud, her comrade, her friend, and all that was left of him was part of a leg.

She was shaking, her whole body tense and trembling. There were no tears. Rage, pure unadulterated rage was coursing through her veins. Her body was numb. Everything was the strangest shade of crimson red. The world was swirling and twirling in it, weaving in and out of everything. She couldn't think about anything except slaughtering the people who had done this the way they had slaughter her friend.

Her heart jumped in her chest when Negan's arms wrapped around her waist. He didn't say a word, he didn't move, he just held her, her back against his chest. How long they stood there, she didn't know. It could have been minutes, or hours, or days but she didn't care.

Eventually his hands started moving up and down her sides, softly at first, then firmer with each stroke. As the tension in her body released, she relaxed into him, her head falling against his shoulder. She could hear the steady heart beating in his chest. The greens and blues and browns of the world returned to her vision.

"I'm sorry baby doll," his words were soft and strong. "Let's go home."

"I want to know who did this," she turned her head to look up at him. "When I found out who they are, and where they are, they'll be the sorry ones. Take me home."


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: This is a busy chapter, it took me a while to get it written and I still don't feel like it's perfect, but I didn't want to make you all wait even longer for it. I hope you all enjoy it, the next chapter is already started because the start of it just flowed right from the end of this one. If you're reading for the first time, welcome, and please follow, favorite, and review!

Guest: Thanks for reviewing, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Bamby0304: No worries! I'm glad you're still loving the story. When you really click with someone, especially in an end of the world scenario, it's hard to stay away. Lots of drama coming soon

: No, this explosion was from season 6 episode 9 when Daryl, Sasha, and Abraham ran into Bud and his bang on their motorcycles. I won't say more in case you or any of the other readers haven't seen it, but it's a great scene, especially if you love Daryl!

KEZZ 1: Thanks! I have the next chapter in the works so hopefully I'll have it up soon.

Victoria0613: I kind of made myself fall in love with Bud, in a friendship kind of way and I hate that I had to kill him off, but I do want to keep my story in line with the show as much as possible and I think Bud and his crew dying was very important.

Lalilou10: Sorry I made you wait so long for this chapter! Enjoy

Enchantmentanjel: Bringing in Daryl is going to be awesome, I'm really excited as we get closer to that time. We still have some time before that happens, but it will be soon.

Raging Raven: When they time comes, yes she will!

Sexy Vampire Girl: We are, he's coming soon, only a few more chapters away!

CLTex: I'm a firm believer that there are always 2 sides to every story, and in a war, there is no good guy

missMW: Thanks for the reviews, I'm so glad you love the story!

BlueEyedBeauty: Don't worry, I love Daryl too so I won't be too horrible to him

Brekelly2021: I hadn't thought of that comparison before, but you're kind of right, I can see the resemblance, at least from the Suicide Squad movie. I struggle to read comics because I'm more of a novel reader, but I love the movies.

The drive back to Sanctuary was as quiet as the ride out. But it was a different kind of quiet. It was the somber silence of loss, so familiar to the new world. She relaxed into Negan's embrace. It was a small comfort to know he too was angered by the loss. She wasn't a fool, Negan didn't really care about Bud, or any of the men, the way she did. To him, Bud was a lieutenant, a loyal soldier, a tool, a weapon to strong arm his enemies. To her, he'd been a friend. One of the few friends she had.

The crew that found them were left behind to clean up the mess and salvage as much as they could. Most everything had been destroyed, but one of the bikes looked like it might still run. They could salvage some usable parts off the other 2 or 3 that didn't take a direct hit from the grenade or whatever explosive had been used. She recalled seeing a couple of guns that may have still been usable.

Negan picked up his radio for the somber announcement. "Everyone needs to listen and shut the fuck up for a moment of silence. We lost Bud, Timmy, and the rest of Bud's crew today. A mother fucking tragedy. This is a loss that will be felt not just across Sanctuary, but also across all of our outposts. I want every single one of you in the meeting room at 6pm to mourn this fucking loss. Outposts can run with a skeleton crew, leave the unimportant assholes behind to man them. This is a soldier's only event."

"You're hosting a wake?" she asked, honestly surprised at the gesture.

"I wouldn't call it a wake," he told her. "More like a bunch of asshole getting together over some drinks to swap war stories and shit like that."

"Still," she said, squeezing the hand he had on her hip, "It's a nice thing to do. We all need… something, after this."

The rest of the ride back was silent. Her ear was pressed into Negan's chest as she looked out of the window. The strong, steady beat of his heart kept her focus. Her eyelids were so heavy, the lack of sleep had finally caught up with her.

 _The late August Georgia air was hot and muggy. It hadn't been so bad when she'd been on the back of Daryl's bike, but now that they'd stopped she could feel the humidity clinging to her skin. She unbuckled her helmet. He hung it from the handlebars before he helped her climb off of the bike and stuck a fresh water bottle in the holder on the side of her backpack._

 _It was almost 3 in the afternoon and they'd been on the road since 10 that morning. He'd woken her early and told her to pack a backpack for a weekend trip._

" _It's Tuesday," she groaned. "And I have to go to work. Weekend trips are for, you know, weekends."_

" _You ain't got nowhere to be 'cept with me," he answered. "I called your boss last week, Doctor B said ya could have today, tomorrow, and Thursday off. You gotta work Saturday though, sorry."_

 _She sat up in bed. "Seriously? You planned out a real trip?"_

" _Yes ma'am, you bet your pretty 'lil ass I did. Now get packin' or we ain't gonna make it in time today. You need a bathin' suit, put it on under your clothes. We're takin' my bike so make it all fit in a backpack. And wear your hikin' boots."_

" _Daryl Dixon, where the hell are you taking me that I need to wear a bathing suit and hiking boots?" She smiled at him. It wasn't often he surprised her, she knew him so well that she almost always picked up on his nervous habits when he was planning something and she wouldn't give up until he told her what was going on._

 _His only answer was a shy smirk._

 _After she was packed and ready to go, she waited for him by his bike. She raised a questioning eyebrow at him when he pulled a fresh bandana out of his pocket and reached towards her head._

" _Do ya trust me?" he asked._

" _Always," she answered without a second thought and let him tie the bandana over her eyes._

 _Five hours later, they'd arrived. When he took the thinly folded bandana from her eyes, she could take in her surroundings. It looked like some kind of forest preserve or park. The trees were big and old. Other than the parking lot they were in, everything look untouched by humanity. They'd headed north the entire trip, but they were still in Georgia. He'd never left the state, just the idea of being outside of Georgia made him nervous._

 _He grabbed her hand and led her out of the gravel parking lot, empty except for his bike. There was a small trail in the middle of the thick trees he took her up._

" _Where are we?"_

" _You'll see," he said, never letting go of her hand. The trail made a slow slope upwards as they hiked. It was cooler in the heavy shade of the trees. The air was crisp and clean, though the humidity still had her chest heaving more than it should have been considering she was in great shape and they hiked the local woods often. There were tracks all over the place, some deer, racoon, and possum tracks she spotted without really trying. But he hadn't brought his crossbow so they weren't hunting. She could hear the trickling of running water nearby. The water, rustling leaves beneath their feet, and the birds in the trees were the only sounds heard as they walked. The silence between them was comfortable, they didn't need words to communicate._

 _The sun was shining brightly through a break in the trees. He led her off the main trail, onto a faintly noticeable trail heading straight for sunshine. The sound of the water was growing louder as they approached. The bright light was blinding for a moment when they left the cover of the trees. When her eyes adjusted, she could see that the water wasn't a simple creek, it was a small river pouring down into a crystal clear swimming hole from a beautiful rocky waterfall. They were standing on the gray stone a few inches from the edge of the swimming hole. She could see the smooth stone sloped down under the water for several feet until it dropped away._

 _When she looked at Daryl, he was giving her the nervous half smile that, no matter how many times she saw it, still gave her butterflies._

" _Ya like it?" he asked._

" _Like it?" she said, surprised. "I love it!" She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him down until his lips met hers. She slipped off her boots, kicked off her jeans, and tossed her shirt on top of the pile so she was left in her simple black bikini. She toed the water, but it was ice cold on her hot, sweaty skin. So, she came around to the side of the water where the bottom couldn't be seen and jumped straight in. When she resurfaced, her red hair floating around her, Daryl was still standing in the same spot, watching her. "I know you didn't bring me all the way here to swim by myself. Get your pants off and get in here!"_

 _He smiled at her, a full, real smile and stripped off his pants, leaving him in his plain brown swim trunks and the sleeveless tan button down shirt he'd been wearing all day. He jumped in next to her and pulled her bobbing form against his. Watching the water dripping from his messy hair, wrapped up in his arms in such a beautiful place, though she hadn't thought it possible, she fell a little more in love with him._

"Time to wake up, baby doll," Negan's voice whispered in her ear.

She woke with a gasp, sitting straight up as she was woken from her dreamland memory. It took a second for her to realize where she was, still in the truck on Negan's lap.

"Wow, you alright?" Negan asked.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine, just startled," she told him.

"You were sleeping pretty heavy. We're home." He opened the door and held on to her as she slid off his lap, until her feet hit the ground and he jumped out behind her. "Why don't you go to your room and get changed. It's 4 now, I'll meet you in the meeting room at 6, last door at the end of the hall to the left of the auditorium. I don't think you've been in there before."

"That's fine, I'll see you there," she answered as she headed towards the old factory. She couldn't shake the image of Daryl from her head. It was a rare day when she dreamed of him these days. She'd thought of him more in the last few weeks at Sanctuary than she had in a long time. The two days they'd spent together in Northern Georgia had been some of the best memories she had. Daryl had made love to her in the water, in the small cabin he'd rented in the park, and under the stars by the campfire behind it.

Now, thinking about him like that just made her… empty. Her stomach turned and even the sun couldn't warm the chill she felt deep inside. Being on her own, she had no need for human companionship. Loneliness didn't exist when there was no one left in the world you could trust. The only person she'd needed was herself. Sanctuary was full of people, people who respected her, looked up to her, and depended on her. She couldn't be a lone wolf anymore.

At 5:45, she was ready to make her way downstairs to the meeting room. Her freshly washed and dried hair was pulled up in a neat ponytail. Tinted lip balm coated her lips, the closest thing to makeup she'd worn in three years. She was wearing a clean, well fitted pair of jeans, tighter than she would ever wear on a run. Her grey t-shirt was also well, fitted, she'd never be able to hide a gun under it. Instead of her usual combat boots, she slipped on a pair of lightly studded, distressed leather cowboy boots. They were designed more for fashion than function, but when she'd seen them sitting on a table in the market a few days ago, she couldn't resist trying them on. They fit perfectly, so she's smiled at the shopkeeper and walked off wearing them.

Sanctuary was quiet, the workers had been released an hour ago to clear out the main floor and allow a skeleton soldier crew keep the place under control. When she opened the door to the room Negan had directed her to, the rumble from the beat of the music hit her in a wave. The large, open room was already packed. Tables and chairs were set up around the edge of the room, filled with plates of food and bottles of liquor. The middle of the room was jammed full of men, all soldiers, and an assortment women were scattered between them, dancing. Some of the women were their girlfriends or wives, but most of them she recognized as prostitutes.

She scanned the room for Negan. She took a step towards his table when she spotted him, but stopped when she saw Valerie at his side. She was in a short black dress, a pound of makeup covered her face. It reminded her of the prostitutes trying to whore themselves out to the highest ranking men to earn the most points. Negan was sunk down in the chair, legs spread like he was the most relaxed and confident man in the room. He probably was. She rolled her eyes to herself, then spotted Jason and his group at another table and headed their way. With Bud gone, Jason was the closest thing she had to a friend now.

Jason looked up and waved her over with a smile when he saw her. They were at a table in the far corner where they didn't have to scream over the music to talk.

"Hi boys!" she greeted them.

"Crim!" Jason said. "Grab a chair and join us!"

She took the first chair that was offered to her. Rob, Grayson, and Toby were sitting around the table with him. She sat herself between Jason and Grayson.

"What are you find gentlemen drinking tonight?"

"Jonnie Walker," Jason held up the bottle proudly, "blue label."

"A man after my own heart," she said, snatching the bottle out of his hand and filling a clean glass with it. She emptied half the glass in one gulp.

"You know, this is the good stuff, you're supposed to savor it."

"Oh I did," she grinned at him. "So, what are we talking about?"

"Toby was just telling us about the one time he went out with Bud," Grayson said. "Finish telling the story man!"

"We was out in the woods," Rob said and laughed to himself. His southern drawl was thick and slow. He knocked back the last swig of his whiskey and set his glass down. Jason refilled it for him. "He went into this house, tol' me to wait outside so I did. A minute later, he comes a runnin' out there like his ass was on fire, and a bunch of fat dead women in muumuus were right behin' him, chasin' him out. There were like, 12 of these things, I dunno how they all fit in that little trailer. He'd a never got up if one of them got on top!"

The table was cracking up, she downed the rest of her tall glass and poured herself another. The whistling beat to one of her favorite songs filled the room.

"I love this damn song!" she shouted to them. She wasn't drunk, yet, that would take a few more drinks, but she could feel the buzz kicking in and she was relaxing. The whiskey was running through her veins and she wanted to dance. "Excuse me boys, I'm going to dance!"

She pushed her way to the dance floor and was rocking her hips when Jason moved up behind her.

"One of your favorite songs, huh?" he had to shout into her ear over the music.

"Yeah, I loved this band!" she turned her head so he could hear her. "I had tickets to their concert, was supposed to go 3 days after the world went to shit. Go fucking figure. Why? You like them too?"

"You could say that."

She was about to ask him what that meant when the first lyric began in and he sang along, his lips hovering over her ear.

"Oooh. Oh."

Crimson, shocked to the point her jaw actually dropped a little, whipped around to face him, she stood still in the wave of drunks dancing around them.

"Oh my god! I knew I recognized you! You're the Jason, Jason Anderson from," she exclaimed, but he cut her off when he leaned towards her, shouting over the music but quiet enough that no one else could hear him.

"Shhh! No one knows. It's a secret," he smiled and winked at her. She could smell the whiskey on his breath. He closed the distance between them, close enough to sing to her and rocked to the beat. She laughed, covering her mouth with one hand and moved her hips with his, chest to chest. He was Jason Anderson, vocalist and guitarist for one of her favorite bands, Pop Goes the Devil. She hadn't recognized him with the longer, shaggy hair and thick beard. He'd always been clean shaven before. Celebrities didn't matter anymore, but that didn't stop the giddiness she got from her fan girl moment.

"Just shoot for the stars if it feels right

And aim for my heart if you feel like it

Take me away and make it okay

I swear I'll behave"

He was singing to only her. She could understand not wanting anyone else to know. The Saviors may not be so receptive to a guy who was famous for an amazing falsetto. Most of Negan's men were nobodies before the apocalypse and nobodies were often jealous of somebodies.

"You wanted control so we waited

I put on a show now we're naked

You say I'm a kid my ego is big

I don't give a shit and it goes like this"

She leaned in closer to him, though there wasn't much space between them, and joined in the chorus. Before the world went to shit, her favorite Saturday nights included whiskey at the nicer bar in town, and dancing and singing along to her favorite songs on the crowded dance floor. Depending on how much whiskey she consumed, dancing on top of the bar may or may not have been included. And Daryl was always sitting at the bar watching her, occasionally knocking out the first guy that got more handsy than he liked, but she didn't want to think about that part.

"Take me by the tongue and I'll know you

Kiss me 'til you're drunk and I'll show you all the moves like Jagger

I've got the moves like Jagger

I've got the moves like Jagger

I don't need to try to control you

Look into my eyes and I'll own you with them moves like Jagger

I've got the moves like Jagger

I've got the moves like Jagger

Baby it's hard when you feel like

You're broken and scarred

Nothing feels right, but when you're with me

I make you believe that I've got the key

Oh, so get in the car we can ride it

Wherever you want get inside it

And you want to steer, but I'm shifting gear

I'll take it from here oh yeah yeah and it goes like this

Take me by the tongue and I'll know you

Kiss me 'til you're drunk and I'll show you all the moves like Jagger

I've got the moves like Jagger

I've got the moves like Jagger

I don't need to try to control you

Look into my eyes and I'll own you with them moves like Jagger

I've got the moves like Jagger

I've got the moves like Jagger"

Jason was silent when the song kicked over the the female vocalist that had collaborated for this song. He smiled as she sang. She knew she had a damn good voice, but it was the whiskey that gave her the courage to sing in front of him alone. Him, Jason fucking Anderson. Their bodies still swayed together, in tune with the music. She was starting to get hot, a bead of sweat was dripping down her back. She pulled the band from her hair to let down her long dark auburn locks.

"You want to know how to make me smile

Take control, own me just for the night

But if I share my secret you're gonna have to keep it

Nobody else can see this

So watch and learn I won't show you twice"

She ran her hands from her hips, up her sides, over her neck, ending with a flip of her hair.

"Head to toe, ooh baby, rub me right

But if I share my secret you're gonna have to keep it

Nobody else can see this"

She turned around, her back pressed into his chest while he joined back in for the final chorus. They moved together in perfect rhythm to the beat.

"And it goes like this

Take me by the tongue and I'll know you

Kiss me 'til you're drunk and I'll show you all the moves like Jagger

I've got the moves like Jagger

I've got the moves like Jagger

I don't need to try to control you

Look into my eyes and I'll own you with them moves like Jagger

I've got the moves like Jagger

I've got the moves like Jagger"

She was laughing so hard at the end of the song that she could barely breathe. Really, who would have thought that all she need to meet, dance, and sing with the vocalist of one of her favorite bands was the end of the world? She certainly hadn't thought it, until now. They continued to dance as the next song started up, her back pressed into his chest, his hands on her hips as they rocked back and forth.

"I can't believe this. Seriously, this is insane! I can't believe I didn't recognize you sooner, even under all that scruff!" She leaned her head back on his shoulder so he could hear her.

He didn't have a chance to answer her, a firm grip on her arm pulled her away from him and straight into a very familiar chest. Negan. He didn't say anything, but his face didn't exactly look pleased as he led her off the dance floor, through the doors, and into the hallway. When the door shut behind them, she yanked her arm out of his grasp. She looked around, the halls were empty, they were alone.

"Is there a problem?" she asked him. She wasn't angry, but she was curious. He'd been sitting with his last remaining wife only minutes ago.

"How fucking drunk are you right now, baby doll?" he asked, his tone wasn't dangerous, but it was right on the edge. A nudge could send him in either direction.

"I'm a little buzzed, but I'm not drunk. It takes a lot more than one glass of whiskey to get me drunk. Now answer my question. Is there a problem?"

"Of course there's a god damn problem. I, and every other guy in the room with a fucking hard on for you, which is most of 'em, just watched you rubbing yourself all over that half-wit Jason and I sure as shit didn't like it." He took a step towards her, she leaned back against the wall, the brick was ice cold on her sweaty back.

"I don't see how that's a problem. I'm not your wife. Her, you left in there." She pointed a thumb at the door.

"Valerie ain't my wife anymore. She's officially fucking dismissed. I told her to pack up her shit and move back down to the general population tonight. I told you she was a shitty wife."

Crimson's heart was pounding in her chest. Negan dismissed Valerie? That meant there were no more wives. The last reason she had to say no to him was gone. How had that happened so fast? She looked up at him, locking his eyes with her own.

"So, you're saying…" she started, but he cut her off.

"That you don't have any more fucking excuses to stop me from doing this." His strong hand grabbed the back of her head and crushed his lips to hers. His tongue demanding entrance and she met it with her own, pushing into him, closing all space between them. Both of his hands gripped her ass, lifting her effortlessly from the floor. Her head was spinning. Her legs wrapped around his waist. He back pressed against the brick as he pinned her there, grinding his hard length into her core. His lips found the hollow of her neck. Her fingers gripped his hair as she moaned.

"Fuck," he growled. "You make another noise like that and I'm going to rip those pants off and fuck you right here.

"No," she panted. "You're going to take me up to your room. Now. And you can fuck me all night long." She pulled his head back by his hair so she could look him in the eye. "You've been talking an awfully big game, I want to see you back that up."

"Oh, baby doll, I'm going to make you come so fucking hard you won't walk straight for a week."

"I want to make sure we're clear on something." She brought his face to hers, her breath caressing his cheek. "I'm not a one night stand, or a multi-night fling. If we do this, I'm it. Some other hot things comes along later, you don't get to rebuild your haram, and you don't get to toss me aside. If you cheat on me, I'll cut your cock off and feed it to the dead guys on the fence."

He grinned at her, "Crystal fucking clear. That perfect little pussy of yours is all I fucking need."

Her legs didn't leave his waist and their lips never parted even as he carried her to the elevator.

A/N: The song is Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Adults only scene here, if you don't want to read the smut, skip to the = sign and start there! I'm not a very strong smut writer, so I apologize now if it's terrible. I also want to say thank you to all of my readers, over 300 followers now, I can't thank you all enough for your support! If you just started reading, please follow, favorite, and leave a review, I love to hear what my readers are thinking!

This story is also posted on AO3 under the same title and author name in case anything ever happens to it here on .

Spiritual-trace: We'll see Jason again in the next chapter

Yugioh13: Thank you so, so much! Writing an OC is so nerve wracking sometimes, I'm so glad you love her. I threw in the song because after such a sad chapter before (killing Bud actually made me cry a little while I was writing it) I thought the story needed something fun

Raging Raven: Here it is, hope you enjoy!

CLTex: I have the reunion scene almost fully written, it's just not time for it yet! Enjoy the scene I've made you all wait too long for ;)

KEZZ 1: Thanks for being such a loyal reader and always reviewing

Msgemgem: Daryl definitely brings out the softness and kindness in her! And you are very right, they've both changed a lot since before the ZA. But Negan brings out the savage survivor and fighter in her. I completely understand real life, sometimes mine pulls me away from writing!

MadHatterLove7011: Enjoy the update! It's not time for Daryl yet, but soon.

Dixon-Vixen13: I can't picture Negan not being the possessive type. Enjoy the update!

BlueEyedBeauty: Daryl's entrance into the story will be very interesting, just not quite time for it yet! Negan and Crimson still have some time together before her past comes back.

Sexy Vampire Girl: Enjoy the update ;)

Beelzenef2010: I'm glad you love my Negan! Enjoy the new chapter!

Missmw: Glad you finally caught up!

Enchantmentanjel: The song/dance was mostly for fun, the last chapter before was super depressing (at least to write it, it was) so I wanted something more lighthearted. Negan might not be a 1 guy, 1 girl kind of guy, but Crimson also doesn't share, so you'll have to see what happens!

Guest: Thanks for reading! Glad to know you loved it enough to finish 17 chapters in 2 days

Negan. He was all she saw, all she heard, all she smelled, all she felt. And oh dear god could she feel him. His hardened length was pressed into her throbbing center and she had never been more annoyed by clothes, especially the layers of pants and underwear that separated his silkiest flesh from hers. Her skin was on fire everywhere they touched and she needed him to touch her more than anything. The moment he'd slammed the door to his office closed, clothes were coming off. With one swipe of his arm, the contents on his nearly ordered desk were a disordered mess scattered around the floor, she heard a water glass shatter when it hit the wall, and he practically slammed her on top of it.

Her hands were already pushing off his leather jacket and his were pulling her shirt over her head. Their lips only separated for a second, pressing together again before her shirt hit the floor. She pulled his white t-shirt from his jeans and slid her hands underneath it, over the hard lines of his very much in shape abdomen. Her bra unsnapped with a flick of his wrist and quickly joined the growing pile of crumpled clothes. He leaned back for a moment, taking in her half naked form, hands gripping her waist. She could see the desire and appreciation swirling in his dark eyes. He used his teeth to quickly remove the single leather glove from his hand.

He took one breast into each hand, firmly squeezing the perky globes that fit perfectly in his palms. He pushed her down onto the desk, his mouth enclosed a nipple before her back hit the smooth wooden surface. The hot, wet heat of his tongue swirling around her overly sensitive flesh was almost too much and she cried out when his teeth grazed it. She tangled her fingers into his hair to pull him off, but his lips were already moving down the milky white flesh of her stomach while his fingers made quick work of removing her pants. She propped herself up on her elbows to kick off her boots and her jeans went flying with them. Her lacy red panties were the only stitch of clothing she had left.

Negan growled at her, "Those are 'fuck me' panties baby doll. You have plans to bring that scrawny little bitch Jason up to your room tonight?"

"The only man I'm ever fucking in Sanctuary is you," she said when her eyes locked with his. "I put them on for me. Sometimes a girl needs to feel sexy for herself." She was glad she'd decided to shave her legs and her bikini zone.

He ripped the silky lace from her hips, crushing his lips to hers while his hands gripped her thighs, spreading them wider. His fingers pressed into her flesh, sliding up until his hand found the soaking wet center it was looking for. Two fingers slipped inside of her, his fingers, much larger than her own, stretching her more than she had been in a long time.

"Jesus fucking Christ you're tight!" he said. "Were you going to go back up to your room and finger fuck yourself like this?"

The words to her response caught in her throat when he dropped to his knees and his lips found her most sensitive flesh, sucking it into his mouth while his fingers moved inside of her. She collapsed back onto the table, one leg over his shoulder, the other propped up on the desk so she was spread open for him. Her heel dug into his back, unconsciously pulling him closer. Her body was trembling, her hands grabbed the edge of the desk by her head, trying uselessly to steady herself as the pressure in her center rapidly grew. When his tongue stroked her, her back arched off the desk, she gasped so hard she couldn't breathe for a second, and the room became a dark, blurred mass as she spasmed around his fingers.

"Oh god Negan!" she screamed.

"Say it again," he said, his tongue lapping up her juices as they dripped from her, like a dying man drinking from an oasis in the middle of a desert.

"What?" her head was spinning so fast she still couldn't see straight.

"My fucking name, Crimson," he growled at her, "say it again!"

"Negan." she said, and his tongue increased in urgency, stroking her firmly from bottom to top as she came down from her moment of ecstasy.

"You are god damn delectable, your pussy tastes sweeter than I ever fucking dreamed it would." His tongue stroked her again, a deep 'mmm' rumbled from his throat. "And you're so fucking beautiful when you come. I could watch that shit a thousand fucking times and still want to see it again." He stood up, his eyes drinking in her full nude, flushed, form spread open on his desk. "Tell me what you want."

She sat up and reached for the buckle on his belt.

"Nah uh," he said, tilted her face up to his with a finger. She could smell herself on his hand and it was intoxicating, her arousal mixed with his clean, earthy, masculine scent. "I wanna hear you say it. I wanna see those beautiful lips of yours say the words, so fucking say it."

She tipped her head down, taking his finger into her mouth. Her tongue swirled and stroked and sucked it. She did the same to his next finger until there was no trace of her come left on his hand. His hand was shaking when she finished.

"You're right, I do taste good. What I want is for you to strip off the rest of your clothes and fuck me until I come so hard I can't walk, just like you promised." She grabbed his belt again and removed his pants in record time while he pulled his shirt over his head. He grabbed the .45 he kept tucked in the back of his pants and slammed it down on the desk.

She only saw his cock for a moment before it was aligned at her entrance. He wasn't quite as thick as she was used to, but he was longer. She didn't much care what size he was or what it looked like, she just needed him, all of him. No more tension, teasing, or stolen kisses. This was it.

"I need you inside me, now," she moaned, wrapping her legs around his waist and that was all he needed to hear.

He pushed inside of her, his hips met her own in one hard thrust and though she was as prepared as she could be, she gasped at the almost painful intrusion. She tensed for a moment while she adjusted to him. He was slowly moving in and out of her, stroking her so deeply that if he were any longer, it would have hurt. When the tingling of building pleasure started, her hips moved to meet his, urging him on. He kissed her deeply before he pushed her back down on the desk and any trace of gentleness was replaced with a primal desire as his pace picked up into a rapid pounding. He let loose all of the frustrated desire he'd been holding on to since the first moment he laid eyes on her.

He held her hip with bruising force but she didn't care, not when one thumb pressed into her very stimulated clit and he filled her in the way she had been longing for him to do for far too long. Her hips strained against his grip, desperate to meet his force with her own. She flung her head back, biting her lip when she was on the edge of her second release.

"Oh god, don't stop!" she cried out.

"That's right baby doll, come for me again," he ordered. She felt his hand under her back, lifting her hips so he could push into her, harder, faster. "I want your come all over my cock."

She didn't last long, her climax hit her like wave crashing into a rocky wall and when she clamped down around him, 'fuck, fuck, fuck!' was all he said as he went over the edge with her with her. He braced himself on the desk by her hips, she could see his legs were shaking when her vision finally cleared. He was panting hard and she realized she was too. She stretched her arm up to cup the side of his handsome face and grinned at him.

"That was…" she said, but her head was still spinning and she couldn't find the right words.

"Abso-fucking-lutely mind blowing?" he finished for her. "I _know_. I told you it would be. My dick, the one still filling you up right now, is best fuck you'll ever have. Now I bet you're sad you waited so god damn long. You could have been screaming my name for weeks by now."

"And shared you with other women?" her question was obviously rhetorical, so he didn't answer. "No. This is so much better. Besides, you know I was worth the wait." Her thumb stroked the top of his cheek. When he twitched inside of her, she realized something was very different about him. She'd expected him to soften and pull out of her, but that hadn't happened. He was still very ready, stretching her now over stimulated flesh as much as he had from the start. "Did you not… finish?" Her cheeks flushed a little more red with the question.

"Baby doll, I don't think I've ever come so hard in my fucking life," he answered. "I'm just ready for round two so…"

=He was interrupted when the door to his office opened. She'd never seen him move so fast, but in one simultaneous motion he covered her naked form with his own and had his .45 pointed at the intruder.

"You left Lucille downstairs, sir, and Simon wants to know what time you want…" she recognized fat Joey's voice. "Oh shit! Sorry sir, so, so sorry!" All she could see was Negan's chest, covered lightly with dark hair like a man's chest should be and a tattoo she was going to have to take a closer look at later. Though she couldn't see fat Joey, she was sure he was about ready to piss himself. At least the only thing he could see was Negan's very naked ass. "You don't, uh, normally do that, here."

"Unless Sanctuary is about to burn to the mother fucking ground, get the fuck out of here." Negan didn't yell. He didn't have too. His tone said it all.

She heard the thud of Lucille hitting the ground before fat Joey slammed the door shut when he bolted out of the room.

Crimson reached up and pulled Negan's arm down, he was still pointing the gun at the now empty doorway. He was tense, every muscle ready to pounce like he was in full predator mode. "He's gone, you can put it down. And take me to bed because either one of the Joeys is a massive mood killer and I'm exhausted."

"Whatever you say baby doll," he grinned as he pulled out of her. She slid off of the desk with every intension to stand, but her legs felt like jelly and just couldn't hold her up. Negan caught her under her arms before she joined their clothes scattered around the floor. He picked her up and carried her bridal style into the bedroom, though his .45 was still in one hand. That was the one he always kept on his nightstand within his reach at night. He set it down before he carefully tossed her onto the bed and fell on top of her.

"You sure you ain't up to round two?" The tip of him was prodding at her entrance. "I was planning to fuck you until the sun came up. We got a fuck ton of catching up to do." He was sucking just right on the sweet spot on her neck and she didn't care if he left a mark.

"I need to use the bathroom and clean up, and then you can…" her eyes widened and her hand came up to cover her mouth when the realization hit her. "Oh shit, you didn't use anything and I haven't been on birth control since the start! I think I have some plan B down in the clinic. I need to go get that, now!"

Negan rolled off of her and sighed. He pulled her against his warm chest, still damp with sweat and she could sense something wasn't quite right. His jaw clenched. She waited for him to speak.

"I'm going to tell you something no one else here knows, though my ex-wives may have figured it out if they had enough brain cells to put two and two together. Not too fucking likely though." Crimson sat up on her elbow so she could see him. His face was tense as he ran his tongue along his teeth, trying to find the words to say something that made him physically uncomfortable.

"You can tell me anything," she said. "I'm not some bimbo who doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut about things that are no one else's business. I would never tell anyone something that could hurt you."

"You don't have to worry about getting pregnant with me. I can't have kids, doctors said it'd be a damn miracle if I ever knocked a woman up. Found out many years ago the first time I tried to have one but she just wasn't getting pregnant. Assumed it was her, but everything came back fine so I go tested. Turns out, all I got is blanks."

She placed her hand on his chest when his eyes wouldn't meet hers. He looked… ashamed. The barbed-wire bat named Lucille, the need for complete dominance, the harem of wives, the bloody and brutal force he loved to use, she thought she'd figured it out before but it suddenly made complete sense to her now. He was most definitely a man, everything about his tall, well-muscled form screamed masculinity. He had a full, thick salt and pepper beard. Even at his age, he was somewhere in his late 40s she guessed, his thick hair showed little signs of receding and she knew from running it through her fingers before that there were no bald spots hiding beneath it. As she just discovered, his manhood was most certainly not lacking, and neither were his skills to use it. His presence was powerful, commanding. He could make another man piss his pants just by looking at them a certain way. He was a man's man, through and through.

But the most primal thing that made a male human a man, the need to procreate and sow his seed, that was the invisible thing he was missing. She thought carefully before she spoke. He was so quick to anger and that wasn't something she wanted to see directed at herself. You didn't poke a vulnerable bear with a stick unless you wanted it to rip your face off.

"Considering the world went to complete shit and kids are pretty much a guaranteed snack for the dead heads, that's probably a good thing. I have no desire to bring a child into this world and I can't imagine how hard it is for everyone who already had them and lost them. Just look at everyone here, there's only 3 I can think of that have kids that are actually theirs, and only 1 still has all of them." He finally looked at her with a half assed smirk. "I'm very glad that's not something we have to worry about." Her hand trailed down his chest until it met with his half hard member. A few strokes later, his body relaxed and he was fully erect again. She moved her leg up around his hip, then pushed herself up until she was straddling him, both hands firmly massaging his chest. "I love that you can come inside me and we never have to worry about a thing. I'm going to go the bathroom and clean up. When I get back, we'll see if you really can fuck me until the sun comes up."

As it turned out, he could. And he did. Only the next round, or two, or three, they took their time. The basic primal need for one another had been satisfied, on the top of his desk no less. For the rest of the night the explored each other with kisses and caresses until she was sure they knew every mark, every scar, and every pleasure point the other had. As they laid in his bed, limbs tangled together, her eyelids so heavy she could barely keep them open, she looked up at him from that place her head rested so perfectly on his chest. The light of dawn was filtering in through the curtains and he looked so peaceful, so perfect. She wasn't crazy or delusional, he was a psychopath who was aroused by bashing in living people's brains and melting off half of their faces. He loved power and control, but, just maybe, he could love her too. As much as a true psychopath could love another person, anyway.

Her last thought before falling into a dreamless sleep was that, for the first time in a very long time, she felt happy. She was safe and satisfied in the arms of a madman.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N Just a reminder that if for any reason this story disappears, it's also being posted on AO3 under the same title and author. I'm glad so many people enjoyed the last chapter. Smut is very difficult for me to write. I only have a few minutes to get this posted so I don't have time to leave shout outs to all my reviewers but you guys are amazing and thank you! If you're new to the story and liking it, please follow, favorite, and review! I really enjoy reading your thoughts on the story.

For any Harry Potter fans, I practiced some smut with a one-shot (very explicit) Draco/Hermione posted on AO3 and I may edit it to be appropriate and post here but feel free to check it out in its full content on AO3.

"Good morning, beautiful." Lips murmured as they softly brushed over her neck. Her eyelids were so heavy she struggled to open them in the morning sunlight. Her entire body was screaming at her to go back to sleep. She was comfortable with the warm body pressing into her back and more sleep seemed like a grand idea. Her muscles were sore, everywhere, and judging by the angle of the sun in the window, they had only slept for a few hours. She'd forgotten what a workout a sex marathon could be. The sun was shining brightly through the window now, mocking her.

She cracked open her eyes and was greeted by Negan's grinning face. Though she wasn't a morning person, she did like seeing his hair so mussed up in the late morning sunlight. His hand was brushing over her shoulder, down her chest, and over her hip where it gripped her and she knew she already had a bruise there without looking. She glanced down, her eyes still half-lidded with sleep and saw a spattering of marks across the front of her body. He had the look of a very satisfied man inspecting the evidence of last night's pleasure on her skin.

"Mmm, morning," she mumbled in her half awakened state. She stretched out, trying to get the blood flowing her to tired muscles. She rolled over and reached out for him, running her hands up his back, her fingers grazed a few marks her nails had left, then she tangled her fingers in his hair, pulling him down for a kiss. "What time is it?"

"8 AM, we almost overslept. You tired me out," he grinned at her and she couldn't stop the slight blush that flushed her cheeks. "We have got a lot to do today."

"Why don't we save all that for tomorrow and go back to sleep? We were up until 6."

"We have to finish dealing with Dwight and Sherry," he said. "And by we, I mean I'm going to burn his face off and you're going to make sure he doesn't die. We do make a _great_ team, don't we?" He was already excited about the thought of using his iron again. Who needs coffee to wake you up in the morning when you had Negan as excited as a kid in a candy shop? "And there's something I need you to look at."

"Fine. I need breakfast though. I haven't eaten since yesterday morning. And coffee. A lot of coffee."

"Not a morning person?" She refused to dignify such a ridiculous question with a response but fixed him with a pointed look. He rolled away from her to stand up from the bed. He had no shame as the covers fell from his body, leaving his nude form standing proudly. It was different seeing him in the full light of the day. She could now see that the tattoo on his chest was a skull over his heart. Clothes or nude, there was no denying that he was a very attractive man.

"Like what you see?" he asked when he caught her staring.

"Do you have to ask?" she retorted, eyeing him up and down to make sure her message was clear.

"No, but I wanna hear you say it."

She sat up, the sheet falling away from her bare chest as she moved over to his side of the bed to stand up in front of him. She fingered the tattoo on his chest, inspecting it closer, tracing the outline of the skull with her fingertip. "I love what I see."

He grabbed her hand, pressing a kiss to the inside of her palm that sent a shiver down her spine. "I know you want to keep me here, all to yourself, but we've got some work to do today before we can get back to the play."

"Fine," she sighed in resignation, her hand dropping from his chest. "I need to get to the clinic to check in with Cam and change his bandage anyway." She nibbled on her lower lip and looked up at him, her head tilting slightly to the side. "But we do need to get ready so you can at least come take a shower with me."

She wasn't sure if they came out of the shower cleaner than when they went in. His hands and lips had been everywhere at once and she wasn't sure if the moisture on her skin was more water or sweat. The sound of their wet skin slapping against each other when he took her against the shower wall was almost as loud as her screams as she came and she was sure half of Sanctuary heard them. He didn't like it when she was quiet so she didn't bother to try to be.

An hour later they emerged from his rooms, fully dressed and perfectly groomed. Well, Negan was perfectly groomed, his hair carefully slicked back. Watching him this morning, the way he slid his comb through his gelled hair, his movements so precise, it was obvious he'd been doing it like that most of his life. It raised a question in her mind and she asked it aloud, what did he do before all this? She was pleasantly surprised when he gave her an actual answer and not a redirect like he'd always done before. Used car salesman and high school sports coach. She laughed so hard she had to brace herself on the sink and told him it was fitting.

Now she was walking down the hall, her arm around the waist of her used car salesman turned post-apocalyptic psychopathic dictator, his free arm around her shoulder. Lucille, as always, was slung across his shoulder with his other arm. It was a silent public announcement. Doctor Crimson was off the market and very, very much off limits now. She was also very, very sore and hoped no one would notice if she wasn't walking quite right. Most of them stared at the floor as they kneeled when they spotted their leader, so maybe she would get lucky.

She also hoped no one would notice the ridiculous marks all over her neck. They'd both been a bit… aggressive the first round in his office. They were so deep and dark that there was no point in trying to cover them with makeup. She wasn't one to walk around with hickeys all over her neck and many other parts of her body that no one but him would see, but she'd left one on him too, just low enough that his shirt covered it. He'd left them all over her on purpose though she'd never say that to him. If he felt the need to mark her as his own, she'd allow him to do it once. But only once. Well, maybe more than once.

Breakfast was first so they headed straight to the cafeteria to eat. The place the Negan never ate because he ordered his food and had it delivered straight to his rooms. But, who would see her and all of her after-sex glowing up in his rooms? The initial breakfast rush was gone so there were several empty tables. She tried to direct him towards an empty one. Technically they were all empty when everyone jumped from their seats to kneel when they entered the room. He ignored her tug on his waist and took them straight over to the one full table in the place. It just so happened to be a soldier's table. With Jason. His entire crew was at the table. They were scheduled to go on a run to the local farm that was in the process of being converted into an outpost.

"Jason!" Negan greeted him with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. He slammed Lucille down on the table and reached out to give Jason a squeeze on the shoulder that made him flinch. Jason usually knelt down on one knee, but the pressure on his shoulder forced him to drop his other knee to the floor. Negan's eyes were dark and his grip on her shoulder tightened. "How the fuck are you? Looked like you were having a _great_ time last night."

"Yes sir," he was nervous, there was a slight tremor to his voice.

"That's good, because I had the _time of my life_ last night!" he squeezed his shoulder a little harder. "You get my meaning?" His meaning was loud and clear to every soldier in the room, at least the ones that were at the party when she had arrived. She wasn't exactly pleased to be treated like a possession.

"Of course, sir."

"Good, I thought you would. You're a smart guy." Negan released his grip, but gave his shoulder one last smack with a little more force than one could call friendly. "I'll be joining you on your run today with my beautiful new wife. Tell Simon I'd like him and a few of his guys to come along too. The more the merrier, right?" There was a murmur of agreement from all of the men. "Good. Now get the fuck out of here and get ready, we leave in an hour."

She waited for the table to clear out before she spoke and slipped out from under his arm so she could face him. "I'm not your wife."

"Of course you are." He replied, slightly confused.

"No, I'm not," she crossed her arms across her chest and squared up her shoulders. "Just because we slept together doesn't mean I married you. And even if I did marry you, I want to make one thing very clear. You don't own me."

He sat down, swinging his tall legs over the seat and patted the seat next to him. She sat down her with back leaned against the table, her elbows propped up behind her. She looked him in the eye and lifted an eyebrow, waiting for his response.

"Fine, I don't own you. But you are my wife."

She held up her left hand and wiggled her fingers at him. "I don't see a ring on my finger. If I'm your wife, then that makes you my husband and a proper husband gets his wife a proper ring." She slid right arm down the table until her hand reached his own left ring finger. "And you need a ring too. If I'm off the market, so are you." She smirked at him.

"Alright, Wife, I'll get us a pair of rings. Are you going to be so damn demanding all the time?" he asked with a grin.

"Probably," she said, spinning around to tuck her legs under the table when their plates were delivered to the table. "But I'm worth it."

After breakfast, she stopped into the clinic to check on her patient before she headed out on whatever run Negan wanted to join in on. Cam was awake and alert. She checked his chart, Nancy had already given him his morning dose of antibiotics and a Vicodin. They chatted while she changed his bandage and cleaned the sutured wound. It was healing nicely and she told him so.

Just as she was wrapping it back up, a worker came in for stitches, escorted by Dave. Crimson hated Dave. Hate was a strong word, but it's exactly what she felt. He was… off. The way he leered at women when he thought no one was looking told her he wasn't someone she'd want to run into down a dark alley. Or anywhere, really. He hadn't violated Negan's very strict 'no rape' policy, that anyone knew of, or else he'd be dead. But she never turned her back to him.

The worker had a relatively small cut from mending the fences but it wouldn't stop bleeding. She clamped it, cleaned it, and stitched it up. Dave took a note of everything she did and everything she used. The poor man in his dirty sweat suit probably wouldn't have enough points to eat tonight now. She ordered he immediately eat to help his body recoup from the blood loss. Dave tried to make a note of that as well, but she snatched the pen from his slimy hands.

"He gets a sandwich, a real one with egg, cheese, bread, and lettuce. No points," she said.

"Everything cost point," he grumbled, sneering at her.

"Not the sandwich, doctor's orders. If you have a problem with that, take it up with Negan." He grumbled under his breath and grabbed 138 to escort him to the cafeteria. "And if I find out you subtract the points after you leave the clinic, I will take it up with you and I promise it won't end well."

She noted the patient's charts, cleaned up her mess, and headed to the front of the compound to wait for Negan. Five trucks were parked at the front of the gates. Saviors were hustling around, packing gun, ammo, and other supplies. It looked like they were heading to an outpost to pick up food and restock their ammo and other supplies.

She wasn't even startled with the familiar arm snaked around her shoulders.

"There's my beautiful wife. Everything squared away at the clinic?" Negan asked.

"Yes, everything's fine. Except Dave. I really don't like him."

"He's a creepy fuck. But he's never broken the rules."

"I have a feeling he will. We'll deal with it when it happens. Anyway, where are we going?"

"It's a surprise," he said in his sing song voice, his eyes bright with excitement. "Oh, and so is this." He reached into the cab of his favorite truck and pulled out her bow. "I thought you might like it back."

Her face lit up as she grabbed the bow and quiver from his hand. She ran her fingers over the limbs, grip, and string, making sure it was in the same condition as when it had been taken from her. She checked her sights, grabbed an arrow, and let it loose on one of the dead heads along the fence. It flew straight and true through the fence and into the skull of her mark. It hit the ground, the fletching end of the arrow protruding from the middle of its rotting forehead.

"Perfect! Good to know you didn't let anyone mess with it."

"God damn, you made that shot through the fence!" Negan exclaimed.

"I'm much better with a bow than a gun, especially at a distance. Bows are quiet, guns aren't, so take a guess at which one I used more often?"

"Makes sense. Ready to go?"

"Yes, but stop outside the fence so I can retrieve my arrow."

She cleaned the rotting flesh from the arrow as the trucks rumbled down the road.

It was only an hour long drive to get to their destination. It was a gated farm. The welded wire and t-post fence was in the process of being reinforced with steel beam posts and solid metal 7 feet high. She guessed the entire farm was about 20 acres and that fencing would take some time before it was complete. She could see Saviors patrolling the fence line with scoped assault rifles. They were climbing up and down ladders stationed as makeshift watch towers to give them a better view point. It was a smart system to use until the metal fence was complete.

There was a small 2 story farm house in the middle of the land. It was a light blue with a white wrap around porch typical of an old farm house. There was a good sized barn, at least twice the size of the house, on the right side. The old red paint was chipping and peeling from the wood, but the roof was solid and the wooden walls were in great condition. She could see a few acres towards the back of the property were reserved for growing food. The rest of the land was split into several pastures and she could see cows, pigs, and a couple of horses munching away on the grass in the distance.

The gates were opened when they arrived and immediate shut after the last truck pulled in. She jumped out of the truck and Negan was right behind her. It felt so good to have her bow over her back again along with her .380 tucked into its waistband holster and her favorite knife strapped to her thigh. She felt like herself again, ready for anything the world could throw at her.

Or so she thought. Negan told her all about the place, an old farmer and his wife and children had managed to keep themselves alive and the place was never over run by the dead. It was pure luck that a herd never came their direction. Simon had shown the benefits of letting the Saviors take over the operation of the farm, but the farm and his family still lived in the house and earned their keep by teaching other workers the lay of the land and the ways of agriculture.

It all sounded great until they were close enough for her to see the animals. Their ribs and hip bones were protruding. Not a single animal was even close to an acceptable weight. The horses' hooves were too long, but not so long that they hadn't been tended too sometime in the last few months. When they walked into the barn, it was decently clean and organized which she hadn't expected based on the condition of the animals themselves.

Negan introduced her to Trevor, the Savior in charge of operations at the farm. He was a burly looking man who had more fingers than teeth. She didn't let him finish saying hello before she snapped at him.

"These animals are in terrible condition. There's plenty of pasture here and fresh hay stored in that barn. I thought it was common sense that if something is skinny, you feed it more. Why are they in such poor shape?" Her sharp tone turned a lot of head in her direction. The people Negan deemed important enough were inside the barn with them.

"We was trying to stretch the food," Trevor answered. "Makin' hay is hard, takes up a bunch of time. Not like it's a big deal, they're just animals and we're gonna eat 'em."

Her movements were quick and precise. In exactly one second, she pulled the .380 from her waistband, pointed it at his head and pulled the trigger. Warm, sticky blood spattered across the side of her face and her shirt. The sound of the echoing gunshot was followed by a stunned silence.

She turned to Negan who was looking at her like he was going to grab her and take her right there, in front of everyone. "I've always wanted to do that. Every time some asshole treated their animal like they weren't a living, breathing being, I just wanted to shoot them in the face. Now, I can. I guess there _is_ an upside to the apocalypse." She turned to face the crowd before she spoke again, her voice stronger and louder than before. "You know, Ghandi once said 'A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.' Isn't that what we're trying to build here? A great nation? Rebuild civilization? How great and civilized can we be if we treat our weakest members, the ones that we trap in a cage or a fence so they can't fend for themselves anymore, like this?" She thought it was a bit ironic that she was talking about greatness and civility with a dead man's blood spattered across her cheek I'll give you the answer but oh well. They were listening. Except maybe Negan, he was just looking at her with that primal look like he was thinking about all the ways he could devour her. "We aren't. That kind of attitude and behavior won't be tolerated. Any questions?" Everyone shook their heads. No one spoke.

She could hear Negan's heavy footsteps right behind her as she left the barn. The moment the warm sunlight hit her face, his hand wrapped around her arm and slammed her into the barn wall. His lips crushed hers while his hands lifted her ass until she wrapped her legs around his waist. Then his hands were all over her. Under her shirt, his fingers set her skin on fire while his lips found unmarked flesh on her neck to suck on and his hips ground into her tender womanhood. She didn't even notice her bow was digging into her back because when he was on her like that, he was all she could think of.

"God I'm going to fuck you so hard when we get home," he muttered against her neck. She moved her hands from his hair to his chin and tilted his face to look at her. He had streaks of red across his cheek from the blood on her and for some insane reason, it turned her on more.

"Why wait? The back of the cargo van is empty and the windows are blacked out." He didn't think twice about her suggestion. A minute later, the van rocked when he took her hard and fast, exactly the way she wanted him too and her screams of "oh god!" and "yes!" and "fuck don't stop!" told anyone within a thousand feet how much she liked it.


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Hello everyone! I want to apologize for this chapter taking so long. The story is NOT abandoned. I will absolutely finish it. Mid-spring to late fall (in the US) is my busiest time at work and I barely have time to sleep let alone write. I'm almost caught up with work so you'll be seeing regular updates again soon. I'm hoping this will keep you all happy for a couple of weeks until I can get the next chapter done. I actually have a lot of bits and pieces for future chapters written out (mostly after Daryl makes his appearance) I just have to get everything filled in, and the next couple of chapters before Daryl's introduction done. Thank you to everyone who's stuck by this story during my absence. I know how much it sucks waiting for a new chapter from a story you love so I hate doing that to you. Leave a review, I love hearing from all of you. If you're new to my story and enjoying, please follow and favorite!

The trucks rumbled down the road headed back to Sanctuary. After they'd dressed they finished the full tour of the farm. She was excited, there was so much potential for the place under the right leadership, of course. She looked over to the driver's seat when she caught Negan grinning at her. He did that often now, but there was something mischievous behind his eyes this time.

"What are you smiling at?" she asked with a grin of her own.

"I've got a surprise for you as soon as we get back home. You're gonna like it."

"I'm a little sore after that last round. You've got to give a girl a break sometimes."

"Nah, Doll, that can wait 'till bedtime. I got something else for you."

She gave him a skeptical look before resuming her watch out of the window. The rest of the drive back was quiet. The Saviors were doing a damn good job of keeping the deadhead population low around Sanctuary and the paths between the outposts. She was proud of her boys and girls. That's what they were now, her people. She needed them as much as they needed her. Alone, roaming the woods just trying to survive another day wasn't something she ever wanted to go back to. There was nothing left in this world that would change that, nothing that could take from them or from Negan's side.

Once Sanctuary's gates were closed behind them he opened her door. She took his offered hand. He was a true southern gentleman when the mood struck him.

"Come on, Doll. Let's go meet your surprise."

She barely noticed the people dropping to their knees as they passed them down the halls of Sanctuary. They were headed towards her clinic. Negan didn't know shit about medical supplies and equipment so she couldn't imagine what kind of surprise he thought he had waiting for her there.

"You know, I wouldn't call some people needing to be patched up a surprise, if that's what you've got waiting in my clinic."

His brows lifted as he smirked.

"That ain't what's waiting for you. You'll see in a second."

Everything was in its place, just as it should be when Negan pushed open the clinic door. Everything except the tall, thin, older man in a white lab coat. Now it was her brows that raised as she observed the man. His scraggly grey hair had receded several inches back, leaving him with an enlarged forehead above his long, thin face. If she were being completely honest, she found him to be a bit creepy. Especially when his beady eyes were darting around the room like a frightened animal ready to bolt.

"Crimson, my darling wife, meet Dr. Emmett Carson. He's an honest to god real human doctor. Turns out the Hilltop had themselves two doctors so I figured I'd take one of them and make your life a lot easier. The guys at the Satellite Station brought him in for you while we were out."

She didn't like it. The moment the words came out of Negan's mouth, she hated Carson. This was _her_ clinic where she treated _her_ people. Doctor was her god damned title and there was no way in hell she was going to let some creepy old man take that from her.

"It's nice to meet you," Carson said with a smile so awkward anyone with a functioning brain cell could tell it wasn't sincere. Though it was difficult to be sincere when you were currently scared for your own life.

"I'm the only doctor we need around here," she said through her clenched jaw.

"Aw come on, Doll. I thought you could use some help."

"Have I failed you somehow?" She turned to face her husband. "Did one of my patients die and no one told me about it?"

"Course not! I just thought,"

"This is my clinic," she cut him off. " _My_ clinic. This is my job. I earn my place here. I'm not going to play dress up and spend all day up in your room like your other wives did. That's not who I am."

"Hey now." He gloved hand reached up to her cheek. "I know that. That's not what I want from you. All I wanted was to get you a little fucking help so your main job can be watching my back. There ain't anyone else on this planet I trust more to keep my damn fine ass alive outside these walls. No reason to get pissed off at me."

She pondered her response for a moment. "He's only here so I can go on more runs with you?"

"The only fucking reason. And his wrinkly old balls answer to you. This is still your clinic."

She reached her hand up to grasp his and gave him a smile. "Well, if that's the case, thank you." She stretched up onto her toes and he leaned down to meet her lips like it's something they'd been doing for years. She hoped, if they were both still alive in a few years, that the tingling warmth his lips brought right then was still there.

People said the excitement of a new lover wore off over time. But it never had with someone else and she expected it never would with Negan. Negan was a passionate man. He was intense with a fire that burned so hot she could feel the heat in her bones. He needed excitement and she could keep things exciting for the rest of their lives, however long or short they may be. In a world like this, excitement meant danger. It meant pushing your boundaries. It meant that one day you could push a little too far and wind up dead. But there wasn't much left in this world that didn't kill you and that kind of passion, the kind that made her feel more alive than she had in so long, it was worth a little extra risk.

Four weeks. Four weeks of waking up next to Negan's naked body. Four weeks of relative peace while they looked for the people that had killed Bud and his crew. Four weeks of fucking all over Sanctuary. The cafeteria was her favorite. The tables were just the right height for Negan to hit all the right spots when she was laid out across the cold plastic surface. Watching the 30 or so people that were in the middle of their dinner scurry out at Negan's command had been amusing. She'd never admit it to anyone other than him, but his little power displays made her panties wet.

Their time together wasn't just sex. They talked. They talked a lot. Every run outside of the gates had her seated in the passenger side of his truck. He told her so much of his previous life, though there was still much more to learn. He told her what he'd done after the dead started to walk. How he'd built his following, built the Savors and Sanctuary, that tale alone took nearly a week to tell. She knew about his wife Lucille. She knew he'd cheated on her before she'd been diagnosed with cancer. She knew that had eaten him up inside. She knew he'd never wanted to care about another woman the way he had his first wife. But he did now.

During one of the few moments they were apart on a run, he'd found a gorgeous set of matching wedding bands. A three carat ruby engagement band set in platinum with a diamond and ruby wedding ring adorned her left ring finger now. A matching men's band encircled his. The metal worker at Sanctuary had done a fine job of sizing the rings to fit them perfectly.

He knew so very much about her know. He listened to her stories of growing up with drug addicted parents in the redneck backwoods of Georgia. He knew how hard she'd worked to get out of that town. He knew how she'd wound up living with a much older redneck of her own and how she'd helped him straight his life out. She told him about her year spent searching for him. He knew how and why she'd wound up on her own, a nearly feral woman who was willing to slit someone's throat without a second thought to keep herself alive.

Four almost blissful weeks of solidifying her decision to be with Negan. Then someone hit the Satellite Station. Someone slipped inside in the middle of the night and slaughtered her men in their sleep. In their god damned sleep!

Negan had been nearly inconsolable. It took 2 days to get his office back in order after he'd ripped it apart. She's never seen him so angry. Even she'd been afraid to reach for him. She wasn't afraid of him, but he was so angry that she knew he wasn't even really seeing the things around him as his favorite liquor glass shattered against the wall and Lucille bashed his office chair over and over until shredded leather, splinters of wood, and white fuzz drifting around the air were all that was left. No, even she had to leave him be until he needed her.

"How many did we lose?" she asked. She was sitting at the end of the couch. His head was in her lap while his tall form was stretched out across the length of the couch. Her fingers made firm, calming strokes through his dark hair. He needed her now.

"34. Most of them were inside, sleeping. A few were outside keeping watch. Paul, Primo, Molly and a couple others they got at the Underground. Word is Paula captured two of their women and were going to use them to lure in the rest but those filthy, cocking suck, honorless mother fuckers got the jump on them. Set the Underground on fire!"

He tensed up again.

"Shh, it's going to be alright," It took nearly an hour to calm him down. She stood by the bedroom door until he'd worked the blinding rage out of his system. The last thing she wanted was for him to get so worked up again. We're going to find them. They have no idea who they just fucked with."

"I bet those bastards are the same sneaky little fuckers that blew up Bud too. How the fuck did I let this happen?!"

She softly scratched her nails against his scalp the way he liked it. He closed his eyes, his head rolling further into her lap when he relaxed. "You didn't let anything happen. It was only a matter of time before we came across another well-armed, organized group. You said there was another one before I came along, one where you had to kill all of the men because they wouldn't submit. This might be another one of those groups."

"I think you're right, Darlin'. This is one time I wished you weren't though."

"We will find them. You need to call in all of your Lieutenants. Someone needs a promotion to replace Paula. Arat, I think. She's earned it and you need to keep at least one female in charge."

"I got you for that," he smirked at her.

"One you aren't sleeping with. The female Savior's need to know you respect them just as much as the men. You don't want their loyalty to waiver in a time like this. Promote Arat, if you think she's worthy, and bring everyone in. We need a few different perspectives to put together the best plan. It won't be long before we find these assholes and you put them on their knees. I can feel it."

"Your damn right I will. I want to see those fuckers so god damned pissing-their-pants scared that they'll turn their mouths into a fucking hoover when I tell them to suck my XL sized dick."

Her fingers paused in his hair. She lifted her gaze to the fire dancing in the fireplace. "I want to see them bleed. I want to hear them scream. I want their tears to making a fucking river at my feet. For Bud and Paula and everyone else they took from us."

"I'll make them cry you a fucking Nile if that's what you want, Doll."

"Good. Now let's go to bed. You've got to be as exhausted as I am."

"Yeah," he nodded. "I might actually be too tired to fuck."

She smiled down at him. "I think you'd have to be dead for that to happen. But I'm not in the mood anyway. Just hold me tonight, okay?"

He nodded before he gracefully lifted himself from her lap. She'd never get tired of watch the man move.


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: I have to give a huge shout out to CLTex, Sexy Vampire Girl, Raging Raven, and KEZZ 1 for reading and reviewing after my very long absence. You guys are amazing!

I never intended for this story to be so long. But creating Crimson, getting to know her character, building her relationship with Negan, writing all of that just turned into a monster. There were times I tried to jump ahead, but then it felt like something was really missing, like her relationship with Negan and how it formed was just too rushed and unrealistic. I've read a few fics that started out strong, I really loved them, then they rushed and it stopped being believable. I didn't want that to happen to this story.

We'll be heading straight into the action after this chapter. I really love reading reviews, so please review, follow, and favorite! Also, I still need a beta reader if anyone is interested. I'm a grammar freak but it's so easy to miss little things in your own writing. If anyone with very strong written English skills is interested, please let me know!

The following afternoon found Crimson perched on Negan's desk, surrounded by his lieutenants. This included the newly promoted Arat who had strutted into the office like a freshly preened peacock. Everyone had given Crimson a warm greeting, even Wade whom she only really knew in passing. Everyone except Arat. She grunted like a caveman when Crimson said 'hello.' Crimson thought the woman's years of deep black hair root growth with her frizzy, poorly bleached blonde ends piled on top of her head resembled a guinea pig. Except guinea pigs were adorable so maybe that was an insult to any of the furry little things still left.

Crimson knew the woman disliked her. Maybe it was jealousy because Negan had never shown her any interest in a sexual manner. He never asked her to marry him. Maybe she thought she should be Negan's right hand female military advisor. Maybe she thought she'd do a better job at watching his back outside of the safety of Sanctuary's walls. Whatever it was, Crimson didn't care why Arat disliked her. What she did care about was her unwavering loyalty to Negan. The small, dark skinned woman was like a pitbull; fierce, protective, and willing to lay her life on the line to keep her master safe. She was smart, fast, and resourceful. Arat would have Negan's back if the time ever came that Crimson couldn't. That was far more important than the woman liking her. Negan's lieutenants didn't need to like his wife, they needed to keep him and their people safe.

She spared a glance at Dwight. His face was as healed as it was ever going to be. The flesh on the left side of his face would be red, warped, and jagged for the rest of his life. At least Negan hadn't pressed the iron too close to his eye. Dwight could still open and close his eye even with the scarred flesh around it. It was difficult to look at. She'd let Carson handle all of his treatment.

She had to wonder how much her morality had warped along with Dwight's face when she had watched Negan scald the man's flesh with a twinkle in his eye. It might have been a lot considering how hard she came when he dismissed everyone to bend her over the railing overlooking the room and took her hard enough to leave light bruising on the bottom of her ass cheeks.

She excused herself to slip away from the group. Negan's rules of no one being allowed into their bedroom still held true so no one would bother her if she holed up in their private bathroom while she collected herself.

Mirrors weren't something she liked much anymore. The changes she could usually ignore were screaming at her through the mirror. Her hair was the same, her skin had regained most of its youthful glow with her now frequent showers and she was back to a healthy weight with the regular and often luxurious meals she had at Sanctuary. It was her eyes that she couldn't stand to see anymore. Maybe the others couldn't see it, but she could. The darkness, the emptiness that overtook what had once been strength and empathy.

Life hadn't been kind to her. The childhood experiences like bedtime stories, fresh baked cookies for passing a math test, a mother's kiss to dry away tears, those were things she never had. Learning to find the best place in the house to drown out her parent's drug induced screaming matches and which neighbors would provide a hot meal on the weekend because school lunches were the only food she had access to when mom and dad were on a bender were the things she remembered from her adolescence. Those kinds of memories left a dark mark on your soul. Becoming a vet, helping those that couldn't speak for themselves, that's what she'd done to bury away the darkest of those marks. But all of the good that she had done in the past mattered so little when in the end she'd done whatever had to be done to keep herself alive.

Negan saw the darkness. He was as consumed by hers as she was with his. He fed it. He loved it. Her soul was bending and molding to match his own. He was changing her. Maybe she was as much of a monster as he was now. In that moment, she had never been so glad there was no left alive from her past to see her now.

But now wasn't the time to dwell on things she couldn't change. There were other monsters out there that had hunted down her people and slaughtered them like cattle. They had to be stopped. She splashed some cool water on her face and returned to the group.

The meeting was a long one. It was an open floor, any idea anyone had was put out there and discussed. There were a few bad ideas, but these guys were not made lieutenants on a passing fancy. They were smart, strategic and most of the ideas presented were solid. Crimson kept notes as the plans came together. Simon hovered over Negan's shoulder making final notes on the map laying on the oversized desk.

Each lieutenant would take a scouting party through their designated area. Search areas were laid out based on the terrain and proximity to their home location. Gas was a precious commodity not to be wasted. That meant that wherever these people were, they couldn't be too far outside of Negan's territory. The most heavily searched areas would be closest to the currently unoccupied Satellite Station. These people had a large base somewhere and it was likely within 100 miles of Satellite Station. It wouldn't take long to locate them. And that was assuming this group wasn't going to come looking for more of the Savior's bases. Negan already had Simon amping up security at Sanctuary and all the outposts.

Crimson finished her notes and dropped the opened notebook on the desk. Negan's brow furrowed when he picked it up.

"How the hell do you read this shit? A fucking 5 year old's chicken scratch is more legible than this." He cracked a smile at her.

"You know, no one's perfect. I happen to be beautiful, smart, a skilled survivalist and I'm great in bed. So my notes look like they were written by a drunken toddler. Better that than be a dimwit who can write calligraphy."

"I guess I can live with that," he chuckled.

"Well boys, and Arat," Crimson said as she pushed herself away from the desk. "I think we're done here. Relax, eat, get some sleep and be ready to roll out in the morning."

Everyone mumbled their agreement as they filed out of the door.

"I'm hungry. Let's go downstairs and eat."

"You feeling like my company ain't enough for you? That might hurt a man's feelings, Doll."

"Things are changing. I just… I can feel it. I'd like to spend an hour with our people."

"Whatever you want." He slung an arm over her shoulders.

The trucks rolled out with the sunrise the next morning. Negan leaned against their truck with his fist gripping Lucille a little too tight as Crimson sent each of their lieutenants off with a hug. There was a tightness in her throat and a twist in her gut as she watched the crews split into their designated directions. Things were going to get worse before they got better. She hoped that she would see everyone again, but she didn't expect it. So much Savior blood had been spilled already and the people they were hunting wanted even more. She couldn't protect them all. They planned, they prepared and now all she could do was hope for the best.

Negan's truck took the lead. Jason, Grayson, Rob, and some other Savior whose name she couldn't recall were following behind. Negan had protested when she assigned Jason to their group. She pointed out that Jason could be trusted the most to keep her unharmed and she, in turn, could keep Negan's fine ass out of trouble. He grumbled about it, but agreed.

"With this short run we don't even need to pack dinner. Why aren't we heading out further?" she asked as she jumped in the truck.

"I kept us and Simon's crew close to home. It ain't likely these assholes know where home base is, but that's not a chance I want to take. Anywhere on our route can have us home in an hour or less."

"That makes sense. Smart decision. I knew there was a reason I hadn't killed you in your sleep and incited a hostile takeover."

"Hostile? You fucking kidding me? Most of my Saviors would lick your boots clean as long as you asked with that little smile of yours."

She laughed. "That's probably true."

"No probably about it. Jiro kept giving you that dreamy eyed, love sick puppy look when he thought I wasn't looking. He does it again next meeting and I'm gonna rip those eyes out of his head and skull fuck him."

"Don't be ridiculous. Your dick is too big to fit inside anyone's eye socket."

A deep laugh boomed from chest and his palm slapped the steering wheel. "Fucking right you are my darling wife."

"So you're not worried about death by wife and a coop d'etat?"

"Nah. Not even a little."

"Why not?" She was honestly curious.

"My too-big-to-skullfuck dick keeps you happy. And this face," he turned his head to grin at her. "You'd miss this face and all the charm that comes with it. But should I be worried? You actually thinking about killing me?"

"Not anymore. I was going to the first time we met. And I briefly considered it again that first night I was conscious in your bed after I was shot. Slit your throat, find my stuff, then disappear into the night."

"Why didn't you?" he wasn't angry, but the amusement his tone typically conveyed, like the whole world was one big circus for him, that was gone.

"I guess I already kind of liked you too much."

A nod with a smirk accepted her answer.

They drove for over an hour without any signs of the living or the dead. The overgrown dirt road they travelled down was not one she had seen before. It was so far off any main road she wouldn't have seen the turn off if Negan hadn't taken it.

A flash of pinkish flash caught her eye. Skin stood out against the muted greens and browns of the forest.

"Keep driving for a second and then pull over," she broke the comfortable silence. "I just saw someone. Either their alive or recently turned."

"There's a place to pull off the road up here. You see where they went?"

"I think so."

It didn't take long to find the tracks. They were fresh and they were human, made by the still living kind. She took the lead, Negan by her side and their men following quietly behind. Five minutes later, Grayson and Rob were dragging a man and a woman out of a pile of brush. The thin, dirt covered couple were forced to their knees for Negan's 'Hi, I'm Negan' introduction speech. She'd heard the speech a couple of times over the last month. He gave almost the same exact speech each time they found a new group, big or small. It was starting to get a little dull, hearing it each time, but the speech and Negan's delivery of it was nearly 100% effective. Why change what he knew worked? She knew he had fun with it.

She'd tuned out his words, but still enjoyed watching her man work. It didn't matter how many times or how many different ways he claimed her body, she still craved him. Watching him in all his dominating glory made her panties quite a bit damper than they should be.

Lucille was swinging wildly, emphasising his most important points when Crimson pulled her eyes away from Negan. She was inspecting the couple kneeling before them when she noticed the two distinct wet marks on the woman's shirt. She softly grabbed Negan's elbow and nodded for him to step back with her when he cocked a questioning eyebrow.

"What the fuck are you interrupting for?" Wife or not, he was not happy to be interrupted by anyone. "I was about to get to my favorite part."

"I think she has a baby," she said, straight to the point.

"She has a…" his head snapped around to stare at the stranger before his gaze returned to his wife. "What the hell would make you think that?"

"Look at her shirt." Negan took a closer look at the woman. "She's leaking breast milk. She either lost a baby very recently, or she still has one. Let me talk to her. You scaring the piss out of her isn't going to inspire the kind of trust that gets her to show us where that baby is. Unless you're okay with abandoning a baby somewhere out in these woods to become a snack for something or starve to death."

"'Course I ain't okay with that." He leaned in to look her in the eye. "You should know me better than that. Go talk to her, find that fucking baby."

Crimson crouched in front of the trembling woman. Her long, knotted hair was blonde underneath the filth, though what shade was impossible to tell. Her skin was loose on her tiny frame, the kind of sag that only came from rapid weight loss and malnutrition.

"Please forgive my husband," Crimson spoke softly. Soft and honest was the best route to establish trust in a hurry. "Sometimes his ego gets the best of him. We aren't going to hurt you. My name is Crimson. Can you tell me yours?"

The woman's brown eyes lifted from the ground. "Emily."

"Hi Emily. Is this your husband?" Crimson's hand gestured to the man at her side.

"No, just a friend. Craig. That's his name." Craig was remained silent.

"Where's the rest of your group?"

"It's just us."

"Emily, I don't think that's true." Her tone remained soft and reassuring. "Please don't lie to me. I want to trust you, so I need you to trust me. You had a baby recently, didn't you?"

Emily choked back a sob, her body nearly collapsing to the ground. She nodded.

"Is your baby still alive?"

The hysterical woman nodded again. "Please don't hurt her!" she cried out. "Please, I'll do anything you want!"

Crimson softly gripped her shoulder. "It's okay, just breath. We would never hurt your baby. A little girl, you said?" Another nod. "That's wonderful. Why don't you show me where she is? We will take you all back to our home. It's safe, strong fences, fresh food, and doctors. I'm one of them. Let me help you."

"You a doctor?" Emily's brown eyes were wide with wonder. Her hand reached out for Crimson. "A real doctor?"

"I was a veterinarian but I've learned how to apply my skills to people too."

"Bobby's sick. He's still real little." Emily grabbed Crimson's hand with both of hers. The bones in her fingers were so prominent that her grip was slight uncomfortable on Crimson's hand. Crimson only returned her grip with a reassuring squeeze. "And Jodie, my baby, she ain't gettin' enough to eat. We was out here tryin' to find some formula. You can help 'em?"

"You bring us to them and all of you will come back with us. Dr. Carson and I will see to your kids."

"Bobby ain't mine. We found 'im hidin' a while back. Maybe a year ago."

"That doesn't matter. We would never leave a child out here to fend for themselves. You and I will ride in the lead truck. Craig can ride in the bed, we'll open the back window so he's right there with you. Negan and our men will take the other truck to follow."

"Ok."

It was a short, bumpy drive. Emily and Craig didn't have a vehicle. They couldn't travel far on foot. The dilapidated cabin was hidden deep in the woods. Half of the roof had already collapsed and the rest was only one strong windstorm away from flying away.

Crimson had already told Negan and the Saviors to stay far away from the children. She'd radioed back to Sanctuary. Dr. Carson would have a quarantine area established before they arrived. Generally, children were far more susceptible to illness as were the elderly but the last thing they needed was a sickness sweeping through Sanctuary. So many people in one big building with a lot of crowded areas, a highly contagious disease could do some serious damage. People dying in their sleep wouldn't stay down for long. It would be a disaster. The kind of disaster that could wipe out Sanctuary. No, they wouldn't be taking any chances with two sick kids or the potentially sick adult that cared for them.

Emily practically ran into the cabin. She didn't even notice the dead guy stumbling towards her. Crimson released an arrow that made its way through the rotting skull. It had been dead for a while. The bone was so soft that the back of the skull blew out on impact, her arrow imbedding itself in the tree behind the deadhead. She retrieved her arrow as Emily disappeared into the barely standing structure.

The elder child, Bobby, removed the barricade from the door as the trucks approached. Less than a minute later Emily carried a bundle of blankets in one arm and a little boy, about three years old from the look of him, to the truck. She had agreed to ride in the bed of the truck with both children and Craig to limit the number of people exposed to the sick kids. The entire truck would be wiped down with bleach when they returned to Sanctuary.

"Slide on over, Doll, I'll drive us back home," Negan said as he opened the driver's side door.

"No, stay in the other truck," Crimson replied. "We don't know if she's carrying whatever those kids have and there's no sense in risking you catching it too."

"Don't think that'll matter much when I'm balls deep in you later tonight. You catch it then I'm catching it. So move the fuck over and let me drive you home. I got a feeling you and Carson are gonna be some busy bees when we get back."

She sighed but slid across the worn leather seat to the passenger side. He had a valid point and she knew there was no arguing with Negan when he'd already made up his mind. He was a man with determination.

The drive back home was relatively quick. She had a short conversation with Carson over the radio, gave him the approximate heights, weights, and ages of their newest patients. After the outbreak he'd made himself very familiar with quarantine procedures so she trusted that he'd be ready when they arrived.

Dr. Carson was true to his word. He was waiting at the gate to bring the new arrivals into the well set up quarantine room. They entered through a side door and hallway that had been blocked from the rest of Sanctuary's citizens. The truck along with Sanctuary's hallway and exterior doors were scrubbed down with bleach once Emily, Craig, and the kids were safely locked away in quarantine.

She and Carson worked side by side to take the vitals and medical histories of the four newcomers. Both children had relatively high fevers. Both adults had mild fevers that could easily attributed to malnutrition and over-exertion in the outdoor heat but they weren't taking any chances. They worked up a treatment plan with minimal argument between the two doctors and settled their patients into beds with food, water and antibiotics. A basinet was placed next to Emily's bed for baby Jodie.

Crimson had reluctantly agreed to self-quarantine herself and Negan in their quarters for 24 hours. That would give Carson enough time to determine the seriousness of the sickness, how contagious it was, and see if Sanctuary's leader and first lady had contracted said sickness.

"We need to stay in here for at least 24 hours," she said as she locked the door to Negan's office. "Food should be left outside and we bring it in ourselves after the delivery boy leaves. Whoever you post as guard should stay by the elevator, away from our door."

"You wanna make me a prisoner in my own god damn house?" Negan was clearly displeased.

"I know we both feel fine right now, but we can't risk spreading infection around in case we picked up that bug from Emily or the kids. None of them were completely healthy. Good regular meals and some antibiotics should have them cleared up in no time, but we won't know more until tomorrow night after they've been under observation and treatment for a day." She hooked her fingers in his belt, bringing him with her as she backed up towards the couch. "Besides, is it really so bad to spend an entire day naked with me?"

Negan didn't protest as she undressed him. The only sound that escaped his throat was the deep moan he always made when she wrapped her lips around his hardened cock.


End file.
